This YouTuber Lost $50,000 After Self-Custody Blunder

  beincrypto.com 38 m

A Brazilian YouTuber with the channel Fraternidade Crypto lost over 86,399 Polygon (MATIC) tokens after mistakenly opening a file revealing his private key in a livestream.

According to an X (Twitter) user, Guilherme Rennó, “Youtuber Ivan LOST ALL MONEY live by accidentally opening a notebook with his Private Key.” Rennó shared a clip from the livestream where the YouTuber accidentally revealed his private keys.

Brazilian YouTuber Exposed His Private Keys And Lost MATIC During a Live Stream

According to data from the Polygon scan, someone took the YouTuber’s 86,399 MATIC tokens, which are worth over $50,000 as of writing.

Transactions leading to Brazilian YouTuber losing his MATIC tokens. Source: Etherscan

Another X (Twitter) user, Fernando Bertini, claims that the person who took the MATIC tokens has returned them to the YouTuber. He wrote in Portuguese, which translates to, “I talked to the staff… they were returned.”

Some users believe that the person who took the assets did so to protect the MATIC token before someone stole them. The development came as the Brazilian YouTuber started another livestream, requesting the return of the MATIC.

YouTuber known as Fraternidade Crypto loses $50,000 worth of MATIC tokens.

Importance of Storing Crypto Assets Securely

The Brazilian YouTuber lost the funds due to some of the most common crypto custody mistakes. Firstly, he stored the private keys on a computer file. Ideally, it is advised that the private keys should be stored somewhere offline, either on physical paper or should be engraved on metal.

Click here to learn about air-gapped crypto wallets.

Secondly, many believe that the YouTuber was careless with opening the file with private keys during a live stream. Guilherme Rennó posted on X (Twitter):

“If you can access all your money with 1 click, you are not safe.

Engrave the words on a metal plate, make them difficult to access even for yourself, like when a bank needs access to the main vault.”

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