Businessman's brother spends all his bitcoins on gambling.

[Forsyth Jones]

An anonymous investor reported on Reddit that his brother lost 0.3 BTC in online gambling, which was being used as a store of value.

The issue came to light when he asked for an amount to pay an employee, but his brother always had some excuse (the bitcoins were with the brother who gambled everything).

Apparently, the family business was not affected and will be able to continue operating.

What can we learn from this incident?

You should never gamble everything you have, especially the company's cash flow.

He could very well have used his own personal money that had no ties to the family business.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1i5dq31/dont_trust_anyone_with_your_crypto_not_even_your/

And of course, in a business relationship where bitcoins are used to manage a business, the least that should be done is a multi-signature wallet between the two brothers and someone else, such as a lawyer.

[_act_]

The lesson that someone can learn is the topic title on reddit: Don't trust anyone with your crypto, not even your family. I learned a hard lesson. Lost 0.3 BTC.

But it should not only be about crypto but about money generally.

If you have a son, daughter, brother or other relative that is helping you in your business, do not trust him to the extent that you will not let him to be accounting for how money is coming and going out of the business account.

This is not new at all. I know three people that similar thing happened to.

I have also read many news like this very well.

[passwordnow]

What can we learn from this incident?

You should never gamble everything you have, especially the company's cash flow.

Also, never gamble what isn't yours.

He could very well have used his own personal money that had no ties to the family business.

If it went to something better, the brother would probably be happy but that's a different story to tell and this is pretty much damaging to the emotion of the brother who owns it.

The lesson that someone can learn is the topic title on reddit: Don't trust anyone with your crypto, not even your family.

I agree, someone who has Bitcoin holdings shouldn't be too vocal with what they have because they'll never know what people that heard them they have it can do to them and their holdings once given an access.

[_act_]

What can we learn from this incident?

You should never gamble everything you have, especially the company's cash flow.

Also, never gamble what isn't yours.

I also agree with this. This is a lesson to people that will borrow money to gamble. I know this topic is not about borrowing money to gamble but it is a lesson to learn that gamblers are more likely to lose money. It would be a lesson for the brother that used the money to gamble. Also another lesson is to gamble with just little amount of money that you can afford to lose. That is also a lesson to the brother that gambled with the money. But the main lesson is to the brother that his brother lost the money to gamble which is to take care of his money and not believe anyone when it comes to money management. He should only believe on himself.

[danherbias07]

If it is a shared account I think a notification should happen so that the other person will know that someone accessed the account.

But I think the real issue here is the brother's gambling problem. He used the asset that is supposed to be for something else and if I were the other brother I would think of him as having a gambling issue if he could spend a large amount like that.
He was lucky that the business was not affected because it was going to be a bigger problem for him especially if that amount is meant for something else and not a store of value. I really doubt he will trust him again, might as well make a solo account and put the new Bitcoins there.

[2Pizza410000BTC]

From this incident we can learn that no matter how close the person is, one should not trust anyone too much. Here the elder brother or the younger brother who was entrusted with money betrayed his brother because his brother trusted him. He should have kept the 0.3 Bitcoin as it was given to him. Moreover, we can learn from this that no business money should be used for gambling. Moreover, it is good to use 1% to 5% of one's own income for gambling and gamble according to the ability to lose. Anyone here will be upset because here his brother gambled with business money.

[Oshosondy]

If it is a shared account I think a notification should happen so that the other person will know that someone accessed the account.

I think his brother owns the business. That will not make him need to have shared account with him. But you know how family can be. Also this is not about fiat and banks which that is possible, it is bitcoin. But they can also use same see phrase to know what is going on though. But I think what we can say is that his brother might trust him. Some people that are trustworthy can become addicted to gamble and make him do something stupid. Probably that could be what that happened.

[acroman08]

What can we learn from this incident?

for the person who trusted his brother, the lesson he can learn is to not trust anyone even your family with your/company's money any kind of precaution, it may look harsh to someone but it is a necessary step to protect your asset. as for the brother who gambled the money, never gamble money that isn't yours and do not gamble money you can't afford to lose.

[Majestic-milf]

If it is a shared account I think a notification should happen so that the other person will know that someone accessed the account.

But I think the real issue here is the brother's gambling problem. He used the asset that is supposed to be for something else and if I were the other brother I would think of him as having a gambling issue if he could spend a large amount like that.
He was lucky that the business was not affected because it was going to be a bigger problem for him especially if that amount is meant for something else and not a store of value. I really doubt he will trust him again, might as well make a solo account and put the new Bitcoins there.

Well from the looks of things it's not a shared account else the brother won't be asking for funds when he must have been receiving notifications of the Bitcoins being tampered with. Granted, the family business and finance wasn't affected despite the brother's wastefulness but still it was funds that got thrown into the drain like that.
 I'm guessing that this brother's gambling habits wasn't known by anyone and even the gambler never planned to go this far but the thing with gambling is that it would start out easy for you, you'd be raking in winnings because then you started out with a small amount and then it would push you to stake higher and then you'd lose both the one you won and the remaining funds.

[GreatArkansas]

(......)
Apparently, the family business was not affected and will be able to continue operating.

What can we learn from this incident?

You should never gamble everything you have, especially the company's cash flow.

I think this guy spent too much watching movies.
I am worried about the guy involved I suspect that he is suffering from gambling addiction, where there's already a sign of it happening - using someone's fund to gamble it.
It's just sad because even if it is your family member, they can still do this to you.

[tusandii]

From this incident we can learn that no matter how close the person is, one should not trust anyone too much. Here the elder brother or the younger brother who was entrusted with money betrayed his brother because his brother trusted him. He should have kept the 0.3 Bitcoin as it was given to him. Moreover, we can learn from this that no business money should be used for gambling. Moreover, it is good to use 1% to 5% of one's own income for gambling and gamble according to the ability to lose. Anyone here will be upset because here his brother gambled with business money.

If I were the owner of the business, I would ask for compensation from my brother and for him to be responsible for the mistake he made. If he cannot compensate, it can be resolved through legal channels so that he is truly deterred and does not repeat stupid mistakes like this because after all, the money he uses is not his and he should accept the consequences of what he has done so that he does not act arbitrarily.

[TheUltraElite]

Poor choice of business partners is what I would say. Its better to run any business on your own if your family members are having latent desires like these, not just gambling but often drugs and other debauchery.

However this is not a uncommon thing. There are folktales and short stories about many hardworking people who trust their family members with money and they squander it all away.

The lesson from these stories is always to not gamble.

[Free Market Capitalist]

I'll say it again in this case, the problem with gambling addiction is that you can lose a great fortune in a very short time. That 0.3 bitcoin would have lasted much longer for a heroin addict than the time it took the gambler to lose it.

And, unfortunately, leaving money in the hands of others even if they are family can end up in cases like this.

However this is not a uncommon thing. There are folktales and short stories about many hardworking people who trust their family members with money and they squander it all away.

We don't have statistics on that and we have to think that if I entrust money to my brother and he does what he has to do, not gambling it away, that is not news. So I would like to think that in most cases that does not happen.

[viljy]

Here is a case where a multi-signature wallet should be used. It's not just a financial loss that can be compensated sometime. The consequences are much more unpleasant here. It's a loss of trust, a damaged relationship.. By the way, it seems that the brother who lost bitcoins may suffer from gambling addiction, as he committed a very irresponsible, infantile act.

[Reatim]

What can we learn from this incident?

that the company business should not entrust their wallets to just about everyone

you are right that multi-sig wallet would be the most helpful here and i do not wish to break a family but honestly the family should know better than to entrust the company to someone they know has problems with gambling or other financial issues

this is why even if you are a family, it is still important to remember that business is business and what is best for it should be the one that is considered

[Jating]

Here is a case where a multi-signature wallet should be used. It's not just a financial loss that can be compensated sometime. The consequences are much more unpleasant here. It's a loss of trust, a damaged relationship.. By the way, it seems that the brother who lost bitcoins may suffer from gambling addiction, as he committed a very irresponsible, infantile act.

Yes, this is also what I have thought, multi-signature should be used in this case so that there is check and balance, and the other side can't just withdraw everything without the approval of the other parties. But it seems that the other one really trusted his brother, I mean who wouldn't? it's your own blood and for sure they are very close as the two grow together have their visions to be a successful businessman.

However, this is another story wherein gambling ruin everything, maybe the other brother can't control himself and really become so addicted that he didn't even think of what will be the consequences of his action until it's too late. Now, the damage has been done, and so let this another big lesson for us here, not to trust anymore with huge amount of crypto or at least uses method that is known to us to somewhat mitigate the risk of unauthorized accessed that will result into theft.

[OcTradism]

An anonymous investor reported on Reddit that his brother lost 0.3 BTC in online gambling, which was being used as a store of value.

The issue came to light when he asked for an amount to pay an employee, but his brother always had some excuse (the bitcoins were with the brother who gambled everything).

Apparently, the family business was not affected and will be able to continue operating.

What can we learn from this incident?

As a business with different board members, not as a single-member business, or an individual treasury, bitcoin in this case needs to be stored in a multisig wallet with some co-signers, so that no single person can sign a transaction and move bitcoin without agreement of other board members in the business.

Even it is a family business, but with different board members, a multisig wallet needs to be used.

It's a big lesson from this accident, not about gambling.

[Davidvictorson]

And of course, in a business relationship where bitcoins are used to manage a business, the least that should be done is a multi-signature wallet between the two brothers and someone else, such as a lawyer.

I couldn't agree more. This decentralizes the control. I encourage it not for this sake on but even for others things where your future stake is in its use and misuse. Gambling addiction is hard to conceal, the brother would have trusted that since they are brothers, he will not even think of using the business money for personal pleasures. The lesson again here is that if you have a brother addicted to gambling, you should help them out by not putting them in charge of any monetary matters.

[robelneo]

This falls to the topic of not investing with money that you cannot afford to lose; in this case, its money that is being used for business. When you use money intended for business, even if the business is great and profitable, it will shut down when the one managing it is putting the money in peril.
Even if you are good at managing your business, you will eventually go down if you cannot control your addiction to gambling. Because time will come, you will be tempted to use money invested to operate your business.

[joeperry]

That's really sad to hear considering it's the new start of the year, though they can try different approach since having one person have an access to the wallet is really risky even if you really do trust him. I think the best approach they did is to set up a multi-sig wallet where they need each other's confirmation before they can do any transaction. Well, this kind of news wasn't that new to gambling industry. I've read more insane scenarios and losses in crypto gambling.