This story popped up on my Google News feed on Monday, then on Tuesday I saw a video about this from Bloomberg on YouTube. So it feels like fate that I should include it in today’s issue.
So by now you know I’m a big fan of crypto, or more accurately what the technology behind crypto can do for businesses and the economy. It’s stories like this, and the talk of “Crypto Winter”, as well as NFT scams and anything involving the white-collar fraud involved in the FTX scandal, that give the crypto industry a bad name!
Remember Silk Road, that illegal dark web marketplace where you could buy anything illegal you wanted, or even hire a hitman, and pay for it all with crypto? Well this guy Jimmy Zhong stole 50,000 Bitcoin from them that over time became worth over $3 billion dollars.
You know that saying goes “Crime never pays” it turns out this one did pay really well, until this idiot messed up and made a tiny mistake that would be costly, then he went and trusted the wrong people which led to him losing everything. This is a great article that I’m not doing justice summarizing, so definitely check it out.
The secret life of Jimmy Zhong, who stole – and lost – more than $3 billion