I know, I know, many of us have seen the awkward discord server message claiming that they would give you 2 bitcoin if you send them one, that and the annoying Vitalik Buterin giveaways are all to common, and unfortunately still effective and profitable, pilling millions of dollars of stealed cryptocurrency every year.
However, that's not what I meant
When I talk about crypto heists, I refer to Coinbase being drained, banks getting hit, etc.
So far I trust their security, and I assume they are paranoid and effective.
However, with the price of Bitcoin showing no signs of exhaustion and a realistic probability of breaking 1 million dollars per coin soon, I think is reasonable to expect a big -mission impossible type- heist every now and then, the incentives are just to powerful at this stage.
And you know what, it doesn't even have to be a small team of genius hackers doing it, it could be a jealous state that wants to fund their sovereign bonds with bitcoin, but finding itself without the ability to buy up bitcoin, with Venezuela and North Korea in precarious situations, these bitcoin heists seem just a matter of time, and in fact North Korea is already doing it on a smaller scale.
For this reason, I would like to share a quick list of things you could do to reduce your risk, here they are:
1.- Have the biggest share of your crypto on your personal wallet, a hardware wallet is specially recommendable
2.- Obtain bitcoin, not wrapped versions, you need the real deal, not a pegged token on another blockchain, many bitcoin heist hunters might target smart contracts first, since they are more vulnerable.
3.- Security through obscurity
Don't brag that you are a bitcoin millionaire, don't raise jealousy, keep your head down and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Do you have other recommendations? let me know in the comments!
