On 19.06.2011, following a hack of Mt. Gox, the price of bitcoin plunged to roughly one cent per coin.

A developer known as Kevin reported on BitcoinTalk that he used the crash to acquire 259,684 BTC for less than $3,000.

Trade cancellation and withdrawals

Mt. Gox suspended trading and voided the resulting transactions, leaving most of the purchased coins outside the buyer’s control.

Kevin said he managed to withdraw only 643.27 BTC to his private wallet before the exchange cancelled the remainder of his order.

Contemporary valuation

At a bitcoin price of $73,000, the original package of 259,684 BTC would be worth almost $19 billion in market terms.

The episode highlights early exchange security failures and the potential scale of unrealised holdings after operational disruptions in cryptocurrency markets.