Can bitcoin be stolen?

[lombok]

Bitcoin theft or hacking is a common occurrence but only happens if the security system of the Bitcoin wallet is weak and the user is careless.

If the security system/Private Key/Password/Seed Phase etc. of the wallet which is in the device of many people is stolen or hacked for any reason then only bitcoins can be stolen and also it is never possible to steal bitcoins from the wallet.

Isn’t it a contrasting idea having to say that,
It’s never possible to steal Bitcoin from a wallet but still, in the first part of your comment, you did say,
Bitcoin theft is a common occurrence and it happens when the “security system of the Bitcoin wallet is weak” that’s in your words actually.

Am highlighting wallet, weak and theft in that.

Now, can the security system of a wallet be weak?
How is that determined?

What is meant by a weak wallet is choosing a wallet as a storage place and the way you store your Bitcoin wallet phrase/private key.

Hot wallet, this open source wallet is very vulnerable to being hacked. For example, a simple case, hot wallets are usually used on crypto exchanges, our mistake was storing all Bitcoin assets on an exchange which tends to have the potential to be hacked and our Bitcoin asset funds can also be taken by hackers, not only our funds but other people's funds are stored in the exchange's hot wallet, therefore many experts say not to store bitcoins on the exchange.

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[Stalker22]

Now, can the security system of a wallet be weak?
How is that determined?

Well, Id say it can. The security of a wallet can definitely be weak.

Wallets are like any software - they can totes have security issues.  Hackers can take advantage of stuff like weak encryption or bugs in the code.  It is kind of like how scammers will call old people and pretend to be the IRS to get them to wire money.  But with wallets instead of using social engineering they exploit vulnerabilities.

So yeah, wallets can absolutely be insecure if the folks who put them together didnt lock down all the doors and windows so to speak.  Any piece of software comes with risks.  But theres good ones out there too - wallets made secure by design from ground up.

[dlightag]

What a big lost of stolen Bitcoin that worth such amount without saving the private offline or phase code in a better place. With such lost amount of Bitcoin hardly recover to buy such amount back again, because this is morning for Bitcoin price increases, in the next 12 years from now, Bitcoin price will be more than 3 time's price increase from the current market price.

[GbitG]

Bitcoin theft or hacking is a common occurrence but only happens if the security system of the Bitcoin wallet is weak and the user is careless.

Yeah, obviously, a hacker has only one way to steal or hack your Bitcoin wallet, and the reason is weak security. If you do every step in the right way, for example, wallet, seed phrases, private key, public key, etc. These are all stances that, if done in the right way, no one can steal your funds. The job of a hacker is to figure out your weak point, that is, they make this weakness a means of hacking for themselves.

Moreover, there are many people who save the security phase of their wallet on the hard disk of the PC or device. Because if any hackers get access to that PC or device then they can get access to Bitcoin wallet. Many times links are sent from various phishing sites for some reason if someone connects wallet from that phishing link then only bitcoins can be stolen.

Hmm, true bro, phrases, passwords, etc. should not be saved on a hard drive or anything online; it can cause you to lose your funds. Recently, I have seen many YouTubers who took screen shots of their phrases or passwords and kept them on their PC or hard drive and the hacker monitored and accessed their hard drive through phishing links, malware's and seeded phrases or passwords Collected and stole the funds from all wallets from this YouTuber. So your point is correct that we need to be careful not to make any mistakes on our part, due to which we should not lose our funds.

[Casdinyard]

We all know that bitcoin was earlier stolen by James "Jimmy" Zhong
James Zhong is an American man who was convicted in 2022 for stealing over 51,680 bitcoin (then worth about $620,000; value as of 2023 approximately $3.4 billion) from the online black market Silk Road between 2012 and 2014.He was also involved in the early development of bitcoin,he found an error on Silk Road that allowed him to withdraw more funds than what was initially deposited. This was activated by repeatedly double clicking the withdraw button, and further abused by using multiple accounts on the website. Zhong managed to conceal his identity and elude detection for nearly 10 years. He lived a luxurious lifestyle, using tools such as cryptocurrency mixers to obscure the origin of the bitcoin he spent. In 2019, he made a mistake by transferring a small amount of stolen bitcoin to a cryptocurrency exchange that followed know-your-customer rules. The IRS's criminal investigation division then tracked him down.
Source link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Zhong#

It turns out that Bitcoin stealers target not only big companies but individual users with modest amounts in their crypto wallets.

Now bitcoin is one of the safest way to invest digital currency. Because of its new and improved security system it makes it hard for hackers and thief to access

So now the question is bitcoin safe from hackers?, can it be stolen?

Thing is the media sensationalizes large-scale bitcoin thefts when the amount of small-time bitcoin robberies amount to millions of dollars each day. But to their credit JZ was a top-tier criminal for the lump of lard that he is. Only thing is that he doesn’t really outrightly hurt people by the stealings he committed, but instead Silk Road itself as he steals their treasuries collected from customer funds through them, so when shit gets going Silk Road’s left to top up how much he had taken from them.

There’s a part of me that wanted to be sad for the guy too. He pretty much stated that he’s bullied all his life for how fat he is and the only gratification he got was when he got rich from the stealings. Then the government swooped in when they saw him for the big fat sweaty and oily dollar sign that he is, arrested him and threatened jail time on him until he relented and gave them the keys to his million dollar net worth. What a sad story of a guy bullied all his life only to he bullied again by the internet and the government.

Oh well. Of course this means bitcoins can be stolen, but unlike money, anybody with an access to the transaction hash and an internet connection capable of running a toaster could track who stole the bitcoins.

[Nothingtodo]

Like money, gold, and valuables, Bitcoin can be stolen. If the Bitcoins are stored in a safe place i.e. if the wallet in which they are stored is hacked then it is possible to steal the Bitcoins as well. Everyone should store Bitcoin storage devices securely so that no one can hack those wallets.

[bots1]

Yes, Bitcoins can be stolen. All wallets have their own advantages and disadvantages. If you use a wallet and you are sure that the operator will not steal your Bitcoins. Of course, the operator must be trustworthy. However their company wants to retain customers. If your Bitcoins are stolen, you are not happy with the company. Therefore, you must be wise in using a wallet to store your Bitcoins. Moreover, if a wallet manages a lot of value, the wallet company becomes a target for hackers. It doesn't take much time. Once inside, hackers have access to customer wallets and can steal Bitcoins at a leisurely pace.

[yazher]

Like money, gold, and valuables, Bitcoin can be stolen. If the Bitcoins are stored in a safe place i.e. if the wallet in which they are stored is hacked then it is possible to steal the Bitcoins as well. Everyone should store Bitcoin storage devices securely so that no one can hack those wallets.

No computers are safe, because scammers are all over the place on the internet and they can just simply use some plot twist to fool you and make you think that it is just normal software that you used to use but they already injected their malware into it so that they can steal some necessary information to access your wallets which happened to many bitcoiners when they loosely just hiding their keys on their computers and ended up getting hack because they were not aware of the hacker's tactics nowadays.

[Apocollapse]

Like money, gold, and valuables, Bitcoin can be stolen. If the Bitcoins are stored in a safe place i.e. if the wallet in which they are stored is hacked then it is possible to steal the Bitcoins as well. Everyone should store Bitcoin storage devices securely so that no one can hack those wallets.

There's nothing like no one can hack cold storage or hardware wallet, watch this video How I hacked a hardware crypto wallet and recovered $2 million.

If you use a wallet and you are sure that the operator will not steal your Bitcoins. Of course, the operator must be trustworthy. However their company wants to retain customers. If your Bitcoins are stolen, you are not happy with the company. Therefore, you must be wise in using a wallet to store your Bitcoins. Moreover, if a wallet manages a lot of value, the wallet company becomes a target for hackers. It doesn't take much time. Once inside, hackers have access to customer wallets and can steal Bitcoins at a leisurely pace.

It's why you must not leave your coins in a centralized exchange and it's the reason why KYC is bad.

If no one don't know you hold Bitcoin and you use non custodial wallet, this will make the hackers that target the company/developer is useless since there's no link between you and the company/developer.

[SlowPP]

Yes it is a digital currency any time it can be stolen but I think its security is very tight I have been watching it for a long time it is very well secured but it can be stolen because I have seen many such coins like you did not take the example of luna that happened and then the USTC which was a stable coin was also hack


If the security is tight, I think there is a very low chance of theft, but at the same time, the arrangement of these people is that they will have their own team.

No, knowing the public address of Bitcoin wallet alone is not sufficient for someone to steal money from it,Wallets and addresses have 2 distinct, separate functions. One is to send bitcoin.the other is to receive bitcoin. There are two different processes to make that happen.
to receive bitcoin, you give the sender a receive address ,to be assured no one can steal your Bitcoins or another crypto currency through your wallet address don't share your public address especially the private keys for your enhanced safety.

[BitcoinsGreat]

All the hacker has to do is get hold of your private keys or seed phrase and they can

You have your seed phrase on a cold wallet and you backup its strong passphrase differently in different locations. Such wallet will be difficult to compromise.

You have a cold wallet and a hot wallet to create a 2-of-2 multisig wallet. That is very safe if you know what you are doing.

Online wallets are the ones that are vulnerable.

2-of-3 multisig wallet will be difficult to compromise.

I have many ways that no malware can get to my wallet or able to steal from me. 100% certainty.

Having a hardware wallet is a better solution as i guess all these Multi-Sig wallets may provide fool proof security but the general public may configure it incorrectly making it inaccessible to withdraw their fund. Either one must understand how this works other it can be a disaster if one configures 3 by 2 multisig wallet and somehow mismanages that he is unable to sign from the two wallets to withdraw his own funds 

[Haunebu]

You answered your question yourself op. BTC is digital money which can be stolen in multiple ways if you aren't being careful.

Almost all wallets(Online and Offline) these days provide great security and your stash will be fine as long as you follow all security protocols properly without doing anything silly basically.

[Nrcewker]

The answer to the question is, yes it can be stolen. Hackers can easily steal the coins. Not only hackers, if any normal person has access to your wallet’s private keys, he/she can easily stole and transfer the coins. You need to take necessary actions to keep the coins safe from these attackers. If you are using a offline wallet, then keep your PC clean from viruses. Don’t share the private keys with anyone and use a personal computer always to access the wallet.

[bobbybkk]

The answer to the question is, yes it can be stolen. Hackers can easily steal the coins. Not only hackers, if any normal person has access to your wallet’s private keys, he/she can easily stole and transfer the coins. You need to take necessary actions to keep the coins safe from these attackers. If you are using a offline wallet, then keep your PC clean from viruses. Don’t share the private keys with anyone and use a personal computer always to access the wallet.

I would suggest to buy a cheap laptop and throw a weired version of Linux on it and use this laptop only for bitcoin and nothing else.....

If you use a rare OS, then it is very likely that no hacker bothered to come up with malware for a tiny fraction of users, so less chance to get infected

[legendbtc]

The answer to the question is, yes it can be stolen. Hackers can easily steal the coins. Not only hackers, if any normal person has access to your wallet’s private keys, he/she can easily stole and transfer the coins. You need to take necessary actions to keep the coins safe from these attackers. If you are using a offline wallet, then keep your PC clean from viruses. Don’t share the private keys with anyone and use a personal computer always to access the wallet.

I would suggest to buy a cheap laptop and throw a weired version of Linux on it and use this laptop only for bitcoin and nothing else.....

If you use a rare OS, then it is very likely that no hacker bothered to come up with malware for a tiny fraction of users, so less chance to get infected

Depending on how you use them, don't think that Linux users will not be attacked by hackers, and Windows users will be attacked regularly. I have also been using Electrum and windows wallet for the past 5 years and I have never had any problems like hackers or viruses stealing my data. It all depends on how you use your device, don't be subjective that when using Linux you will be immune to hackers and neglect to protect your bitcoin wallet.

[IvugeoEvolutionCoin]

I agree with you, but humans have a tendency not to be perfect. If you have all your bitcoins in 1 wallet, 1 mistake can be enough to lose all. Therefore you should have your Bitcoins split over several different storage options, then 1 mistake should affect only a part of your Bitcoin holdings...

I keep investing in 1 wallet most of the time. I try to take care of the wallet in which I keep my invested bitcoins so that I don't face any kind of problems.  I always try to keep everything safe by thinking about these things. So that I never have to face big problems, I always try to stay safe by thinking about these things.

[Jawhead999]

I keep investing in 1 wallet most of the time. I try to take care of the wallet in which I keep my invested bitcoins so that I don't face any kind of problems.  I always try to keep everything safe by thinking about these things. So that I never have to face big problems, I always try to stay safe by thinking about these things.

In case you lost your wallet by accident, forget the seed phrase, you get kidnapped, robbery steal your wallet in your house etc it means you're lose all of your coins.

Depending on how you use them, don't think that Linux users will not be attacked by hackers, and Windows users will be attacked regularly. I have also been using Electrum and windows wallet for the past 5 years and I have never had any problems like hackers or viruses stealing my data. It all depends on how you use your device, don't be subjective that when using Linux you will be immune to hackers and neglect to protect your bitcoin wallet.

It's not Linux will be immune against hackers, but most of malwares are created to target Windows than Linux because most people use Windows especially an Average Joe.

Even though you're aware with too good to be true or other scam strategy, but you can't make sure you're always in good mood and never did any mistake.

[icalical]

The easier answer is yes Bitcoin can be stolen, but if we want to talk more technical, the thing that is stolen is the private key rater than the Bitcoin itself. There is no way to steal Bitcoin other than taking over the Private Key. That's why most people is recommending Non-Custodial wallet because we will be in control of the Private Key, so we can make sure and do our best to keep our private key safe.
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On the opposite, a custodial or exchange wallet is not fully in our control, there are a lot of cases where exchange got hacked, and people's money are stolen. And a small hole in the security system Hacker could own the whole wallet of exchange account.

[southerngentuk]

While Bitcoin boasts robust security measures, it's not infallible, as evidenced by the vulnerabilities unearthed by James Zhong. These vulnerabilities often lie within user interfaces and human interactions with the system. However, it's important to acknowledge the continuous improvements made to Bitcoin's security in recent years.

In my experience, the most effective protection for Bitcoin lies in personal vigilance and adherence to best practices. These include utilizing reputable wallets, implementing two-factor authentication, and securing private keys offline. The synergy between advanced technology and informed user behavior significantly enhances security. As I often convey to my peers, "The responsibility for safeguarding your digital assets lies squarely with you."

[GeorgeJohn]

A Bitcoin can be hacked at any point in time because of revenge of seed phrase or making your seed phrase open to the people that is the easiest way a bitcoin wallet can be stolen in your wallet so it is advisable to keep your private key very intact so that no one can penetrate to your wallet The only way yeah it's gone can be get lost is through making your seed phrase open to everyone