😥 650,000 BTC Missing Forever – Over 74 Billion USD Disappeared

The collapse of Mt. Gox in 2014 still feels unbelievable to many. One day, the world's largest Bitcoin exchange was operating normally, and the next day, 850,000 BTC suddenly vanished. Later, about 200,000 BTC was found in an old wallet, but the remaining—650,000 BTC—seemed to have disappeared into thin air. At the current Bitcoin price, this amount is equivalent to over 74 billion USD, an enormous sum lost forever.

Investigators have traced part of the stolen Bitcoin, and a man named Alexander Vinnik was arrested for laundering funds from this stash. However, the actual hacker? Has never been caught. The majority of the Bitcoin remains 'frozen' in wallets, untouched by anyone, like ghosts of Bitcoin's past.

What impresses me the most is not the amount of money lost, but the human aspect behind the incident. Thousands logged in with hopes of seeing a future—savings, dreams, freedom—but instead, they only saw emptiness. This shock and surprise are hard to forget. Personally, Mt. Gox is a lesson in survival: if I don't hold my private keys, I truly don't own that coin.

The Mt. Gox incident not only took away 650,000 BTC but also left a deep scar in the psyche of crypto investors, including myself. It serves as a reminder of the importance of security, of being self-sovereign with digital assets, and of the reality that in the crypto world, true ownership only comes when you control yourself.