A man who ran an online "wallet service" for storing Bitcoins has claimed hackers stole virtual currency from his site worth more than one million Australian dollars.
The Australian man said 4,100 Bitcoins (US$1.04m, £650,000) were taken in two separate attacks.
He said he would not report the theft to police as Bitcoin transactions are virtually impossible to trace.
The article ends with the man urging users not to store their Bitcoins in devices connected to the internet. While Bitcoins are a flexible and interesting new currency, and while some think that they are a worthy investment, this story highlights the risks of Bitcoins, and the likely inability of law enforcement to follow up on Bitcoin theft.
The story also has interesting implications for the law of theft, given Bitcoins' intangible nature -- see Stuart Green's, Thirteen Ways to Steal a Bicycle for more on how the information age wreaks havoc with outdated formulations of theft.
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