"It must be stolen but you have to read it to the end because there is a plot twist you know."
After accidentally revealing his private key during a live stream, Brazilian YouTuber Ivan Bianco has found himself in a financial crisis after realizing he lost $60,000 in cryptocurrency and non-fungible token (NFT) savings.
Explained further, Bianco who organizes a YouTube channel called Fraternidade Crypto and has more than 34,000 subscribers faced the unfortunate event at the end of August 2023 when he was trying to create a new crypto wallet.
But within minutes, opportunistic hackers swooped in and removed 87,000 Polygon (MATIC) worth $50,460 and 3.35 Ethereum (ETH) equivalent to $5,750.
Adding to his losses, Bianco also revealed that he lost several valuable NFTs during the theft.
The streak, Bianco immediately reported the theft to local enforcement, but the situation took an unexpected turn when an anonymous individual contacted him on Discord and expressed his regret for his irresponsible actions.
The remorseful thief later returned 86,600 MATIC worth $50,000 to Bianco and the reason behind the hacker's change of heart remains unclear as he chose not to reveal the attacker's identity.
However, Bianco in a video posted on August 31, 2023 has reiterated his commitment to assist law enforcement in tracking down the offenders responsible for the theft of his remaining digital assets.
Bianco hopes his experience will be a useful warning and lesson to the crypto community about the importance of guarding each other's private keys and being alert to potential threats.
