, Columnist
Bitcoins Make Bank Robbery Great Again
The electronic currency makes for a more profitable heist than brick-and-mortar vaults.
Welcome back to the Wild West.
Photographer: Uriel Sinai/Getty ImagesA bitcoin exchange in Hong Kong has been hit by hackers who stole $72 million worth of the cryptocurrency. Or at least, that’s what it was worth when the theft took place; once news of the hack broke, the market for bitcoins slumped, meaning that the hackers’ haul is now valued somewhat lower. The market slumped, quite understandably, because this highlighted one of bitcoin’s major vulnerabilities.
Not a software vulnerability, mind; the hackers didn’t hack bitcoin itself, but the exchange. But nonetheless, it illustrates that bitcoins are comparatively profitable to steal. Bitcoin may revolutionize finance in any number of ways, but it is retro in one way: It has made bank robbery great again.