Key Takeaways:
- Brazilian crypto influencer Ivan Bianco lost $50,000 during his live stream
- He accidently revealed his crypto wallet seed phrase during the stream
- The grifter has since returned a portion of his funds
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — In a tragic masterclass of why you should NEVER store your wallet’s seed phrase on your computer, a Brazilian crypto influencer lost $50,000 of his savings thanks to his massive blunder. The incident occurred when Ivan Bianco unwittingly exposed his seed phrase while live-streaming about his DeFi (Decentralized Finance) earnings on August 29.
Brazilian influencers livestream nightmare
According to a detailed post on Reddit, the incident unfolded midway in the live stream in which he was discussing Bitcoin and blockchain games. The influencer appeared to attempt to access his passwords for the Gala Games blockchain gaming platform using a text file on his computer.
Since he was sharing his screen with the viewers, he attempted to log in on a different screen. However, he instead opened the file on the same screen. As a result, his login details became visible to everyone. The text, unfortunately, contained his secret seed phrase too.
Realizing his blunder, he quickly closed his screen in an attempt to save the day.
“I screwed up big time! Will have to close the stream and I explain later on. I f***d up big, big time”,
he said ending the livestream.
Unfortunately, however, it was too late. Someone had already seen the phase and acted swiftly.
Influencer loses $50K- gets some back
Logging in a while later, he tearfully revealed that someone had stolen his funds. According to him, the $50,000 that he lost were his life savings derived from DeFi projects.
“During the live broadcast, I inadvertently revealed my private key, and someone swiftly transferred the funds to another address. I attempted to end the stream and transfer the cryptocurrency to a different address, but unfortunately, I was too slow… He stole everything, man, the money of a lifetime. I can’t believe I did this, that I screwed this up,”
he lamented.
In a desperate plea, Bianco implored the thief to return the stolen assets, citing his inability to cover his expenses.
Later reports hinted at the return of some funds, though the precise amount remained unverified.
This incident serves as a stark reminder that seed phrases represent the ultimate keys to your digital stronghold. You must store them securely offline.
No matter how experienced you are, storing your seed phrase digitally can make you susceptible to theft. Always opt for physical storage or hardware wallets as safer alternatives for safeguarding sensitive data.
