Bitpoint Japan finds extra ¥250 mil of cryptocurrency stolen abroad

Idiots and security.

So they did not find it, only that more had been stolen. Words fail me...

Its sad, that as being a non-resident of a more secure Country, you can't open a bank account there.

And here (just like elsewhere) it looks like Kiddies are running popup exchanges willing to take your hard-earned cash in the hope that they will make it big and have an IPO which will make them Rich so that they can walk away from it all....

I'm sorry but these cryptocurrencies are a joke. The thing that everyone touts about them is blockchain and how it's essentially an open, easily traceable log of all transactions. How it's totally safe and transparent because everyone can see where every transaction went and who was involved. And then begins the record setting heists where suddenly nobody can see who stole the currencies and where it all disappeared to.

If having your cryptocurrency stolen and never getting it back, then cryptocurrencies are for you.

However, they cannot just take the coins out of the wallet since it is only under the control of the person who owns it.

Then explain how this money got stolen from overseas? Seems to me that someone did exactly what you said couldn't be done!

Then explain how this money got stolen from overseas? Seems to me that someone did exactly what you said couldn't be done!

The underlying protocol is secure, and has never been hacked. The exchanges people host their wallets on, on the other hand, have been hacked. These are custom web systems that are built by the operators, whom, as we have seen, sometimes aren’t so good at cyber security.

The thing that everyone touts about them is blockchain and how it's essentially an open, easily traceable log of all transactions. How it's totally safe and transparent because everyone can see where every transaction went and who was involved.

I don’t think anyone has touted that the safety from blockchain comes from the traceability of it. Actually I can’t think of anything that anyone who knows what they are talking about would describe as ‘safe’. It’s secure (never been hacked), but secure and safe are not interchangeable.

And then begins the record setting heists where suddenly nobody can see who stole the currencies and where it all disappeared to.

That’s incorrect. Anyone can see exactly where it is, it hasn’t disappeared at all. It’s right there and we can all see exactly which wallet is holding the coins.

The extremely difficult part is figuring out which human being holds the key (password) to that wallet. The thing about Bitcoin and any other anonymous cryptocurrency is that the underlying technology does not require that a wallet be registered anywhere. You just create it and someone sends money to it. Or you steal money and send it to your wallet.

So to go back to your comment, if anonymity is your goal, then many cryptocurrencies are quite safe. If you are aiming for storing your money in a secure format, it’s also quite safe - if you don’t use a hosted wallet. If your goal is to store your money like an online bank, then bitcoin exchanges are probably not the way to go.

Its all about expectations.

Incorrect. No one ever said it was "totally safe", just like your cash you carry in your wallet, it can be stolen/lost.

You can trace any bitcoin transaction, it's on the ledger, any transactions even stolen ones, check it out yourself.

The transactions are traceable from which wallet to which wallet address, so technically you can see to which address the funds were transferred to.

However who owns that wallet can be a mystery. What could happen is those wallets are locked out/flagged if caught early enough. However, they cannot just take the coins out of the wallet since it is only under the control of the person who owns it.

It seems the issue is not whether YOUR off-line cold wallet is safe, but whether there is another "copy" (for lack of a better word) which the third party exchange that sold you the cryptocurrency has on-line (and hackable).

Kinda in the same way that I can keep my bank book which shows my balance at home, safe and sound. And the bank has their own copy, but if someone hacks my account as part of a bulk hacking heist, my bank book does me no good, my money is gone (but at least insured).

It seems the issue is not whether YOUR off-line cold wallet is safe, but whether there is another "copy" (for lack of a better word) which the third party exchange that sold you the cryptocurrency has on-line (and hackable).

These are two different things, not a copy.

Anyone can have their own wallet, but it takes more work and an understanding of technology to set it up. Exchanges have set up a series of hosted wallets, where they handle the technical side of it for you.

When a wallet is hosted online, the key (password) to unlock the wallet is also stored online, as it must be, in order for the user to be able to do transactions with the wallet. It's when the system hosting the key is hacked, giving the key to hackers, that the wallet gets stolen from.

If you maintain your own wallet, and don't put the key online, you are safe from being hacked online.

Kinda in the same way that I can keep my bank book which shows my balance at home, safe and sound. And the bank has their own copy, but if someone hacks my account as part of a bulk hacking heist, my bank book does me no good, my money is gone

No, this is incorrect. See my previous post for an explanation. Think of it as a single wallet, with a single key. You can keep the key yourself, or give it to the 'bank' (cryptocurrency exchange) for what you hope is safekeeping.

Note that you're still only as secure as you keep your key. I was at my dentists office the other day, and he had his password taped to his mousepad (not to mention that he had a mousepad). A quick snapshot of that and I could get into whichever system it was for. So if you have a private wallet, but leave your key out for anyone to find, it's not going to be particularly secure.

Japan is the world's biggest sucker when it comes to crypto-currency... in a land where they still carry hundreds or thousands (dollars) in cash on them at any given day because they are scared of using debit and/or credit cards.

I am a huge proponent of cryptocurrency. Its here to stay. Plain and simple. Whine all you want. Its here and its not going anywhere. That being said... its like Nuclear power andJapan... do you REALLY want Japanese in charge of it? I swear that the majority of crypto hacks I read about are from Japanese exchanges.

Coincheck and Mt. Gox where not enough?? Nope. They didn't learn a thing.

"The thing that everyone touts about them is blockchain and how it's essentially an open, easily traceable log of all transactions. How it's totally safe and transparent because everyone can see where every transaction went and who was involved"

you obviously have ZERO idea how it works. And this is 99% incorrect. So maybe before you call something a joke, you should learn what it is actually is and how it actually works.