This is Paul Vernon.
At 19, he joined the Army.
At 38, he ran the fastest-growing crypto exchange.
Today he's a FUGITIVE with $1 BILLION in stolen #Bitcoin | A thread 🔥
1/ Paul joined US Army Intelligence in 1994.
That’s where he met his wife – Lori Ann.
He was an entrepreneur, starting companies like OnTime Online, a web host, and DVD Barn, a Netflix rival 😆
2/ Neither startup was a big success.
By 2010, Paul and Lori couldn’t afford their expensive lifestyle – they filed for bankruptcy.
In 2011, when the price was $10, he started mining #Bitcoin and altcoins like Litecoin and Feathercoin 😮
3/ That’s when Paul got an idea.
Back then, most exchanges only listed #Bitcoin. So he launched Cryptsy, an exchange for altcoins.
By 2014, it had 200,000 customers and listed 130 coins 😮
4/ 2014 was a MASSIVE year for Cryptsy.
Customers were making over 33,000 trades a day when the largest #Bitcoin exchange in the world COLLAPSED.
Users began flocking to Cryptsy 👏
5/ By mid-2014, Cryptsy was having problems.
Missing deposits, slow trades, negative balances.
Customers were starting to openly worry… 🤔
6/ Soon, the outcry was so large – a team of podcasters set out to investigate Paul’s exchange.
He was visibility agitated by the accusations
He paced and scratched as he defended himself 🧐
7/ By October, at least 1 user went so far as to sue Cryptsy.
He claimed Paul had taken 140 #Bitcoin from his account – or about $70,000.
The case was resolved out of court in arbitration, but this was just the start of the issues.. 🤔
8/ In October 2014, rumors began to swirl that a major FEDERAL INVESTIGATION of Cryptsy was underway.
One website claimed the SEC, IRS, and FinCEN were involved
Paul denied the report… 😖
9/ There were continued problems at Cryptsy…
Paul tweeted about DDOS attacks and phishing attempts
Then, Cryptsy SUDDENLY SUSPENDED WITHDRAWALS ❗
10/ Then, Cryptsy was "HACKED"
According to Paul, 13,000 #Bitcoin was stolen. He asked his customers for help.
He owed them over 10,000 BTC ‼️
🛑 BITCOIN CUSTODY CHECK 🛑
11/ Next, Cryptsy’s users filed a CLASS ACTION.
They hired a law firm and held press conferences. But they couldn't find Paul.
He couldn’t be found at his HOME OR OFFICE 😠
12/ This is when things started getting REALLY weird…
His wife Lori Ann revealed that she and Paul had begun divorce proceedings.
She claimed Paul had fled to China with a mistress ‼️
13/ During the lawsuit, more unsavory details emerged…
Paul had sold over $3.3 MILLION in #Bitcoin on Coinbase…
He had used the BTC to buy mansions and luxury cars 😡
14/ His wife Lori was sued as well
She had to surrender her home and diamond ring…
The court believed she helped Paul hide stolen Bitcoin 🤯
15/ Over the years, investigators clawed back funds.
But they found irregularities – specifically more than 11,000 #Bitcoin they believed was held by Paul
They believed he still had $200 MILLION in missing customer money ‼️
16/ Over the years, people scoured the blockchain.
Then, they noticed something odd…
The stolen funds HAD STARTED MOVING ‼️‼️
17/ SHOCKINGLY, Paul hasn’t been seen since 2014.
The DOJ is after him for defrauding Cryptsy customers
He’s a WANTED FUGITIVE ‼️‼️
18/ Rumors continue to swirl…
There’s even one that Paul may have launched an exchange called BiteBi9.
It was founded by someone known only as Bao Luo – Chinese for “Paul.”
19/ For now, the trail is cold.
What became of Paul Vernon and the 11,825 BTC worth over $1 BILLION?
We may never know ✨
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