MintPal

MintPal, an altcoin exchange launched in February 2014, faced two devastating breaches that crippled its operations and eroded user trust. The first incident, on July 13, 2014, saw hackers exploit a vulnerable hot wallet, stealing 8,000,000 Vericoin (VRC), valued at $2 million USD, roughly 30% of VRC’s circulating supply, per Ledger’s report. Attempts to breach Bitcoin and Litecoin wallets failed, as those assets were stored offline in cold wallets. The Vericoin community mitigated the loss by forking the blockchain to restore stolen coins, preserving MintPal’s viability temporarily.

However, a second, more damaging breach occurred in October 2014, after MintPal’s sale to Moopay LTD (Moolah). Allegations point to Moolah’s CEO, Alex Green, who is accused of siphoning 3,700 BTC, worth approximately $1.5 million USD at Bitcoin’s price of about $400 per coin, per CoinGecko data. This theft, reported by Ledger, left users with no recovery, sparking a criminal investigation into Green’s actions. MintPal shut down permanently, unable to recover from the financial and reputational blow.

The breaches, targeting online wallets and exacerbated by insider malfeasance, highlighted the risks of centralized exchanges and hot wallet storage in 2014’s unregulated crypto landscape. The incidents drove urgent calls for cold storage solutions, like hardware wallets, and heightened scrutiny of exchange leadership, underscoring the need for robust security and transparency to safeguard digital assets.