In 2013, a young man named Jimmy discovered a vulnerability on the notorious dark web marketplace Silk Road that allowed him to steal $13 million worth of bitcoin. At the time, this was an unfathomable sum of money. Little did Jimmy know, this impulsive theft would make him the accidental mastermind behind one of the biggest bitcoin heists in history.
Jimmy came from a difficult background. He was bullied relentlessly as a kid and had a troubled home life. In college, he found solace in his computer science studies and even contributed some code to the early bitcoin network. After graduating, Jimmy began casually buying drugs on Silk Road using bitcoin.
One day, Jimmy accidentally discovered he could double withdraw funds from Silk Road by double clicking the withdraw button. After confirming this worked repeatedly, Jimmy withdrew every last bitcoin from Silk Road’s coffers – over $13 million worth. The Silk Road founder, Ross Ulbricht, eventually traced the theft back to Jimmy. Surprisingly, instead of being angry, Ross was impressed with the hack and sent Jimmy an additional 5,000 bitcoin as a reward.
At this point, Jimmy could have cashed out his bitcoin fortune and lived lavishly. However, he decided to hold onto it and see how high its value could go. For years, Jimmy hid the small motherboard containing the private keys to his massive bitcoin wallet in a Christmas popcorn tin tucked away in his home.
By the time Jimmy was arrested in 2019, the value of his bitcoin had skyrocketed to a staggering $3.8 billion. The FBI had been closely tracking Jimmy and his suspicious bitcoin holdings ever since his “heist”. When agents finally raided Jimmy’s home, they hit the jackpot – the biggest bitcoin seizure in history.
In the end, Jimmy served just a year in prison and was allowed to keep a small portion of the bitcoin. However, the US government seized nearly all of it. Just like that, Jimmy’s impulsive teenage bitcoin heist had made him one of the richest bitcoin holders in the world. Despite his questionable methods, Jimmy proved that with a simple computer, an internet connection, and a bit of cunning, anyone could harness the explosive potential of bitcoin.
Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning and laughing a lot while you do, you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!
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