Ivan Bianco, a blockchain gaming-focused YouTuber based in Brazil who runs the channel Fraternidade Crypto, apparently had nearly $60,000 worth of cryptocurrency and a stash of NFTs stolen this week after accidentally revealing his crypto wallets' seed phrases during a livestream.
During the stream, Bianco opened a document that revealed his seed phrases, a move that allowed unknown individuals to take control of his wallets and allegedly steal his funds. Fraternidade Crypto has approximately 34,000 subscribers on YouTube and over 2.2 million views across all videos since 2017.
On a subsequent livestream, Bianco was seen crying and explaining to viewers what had happened. He said that he tried to create a new wallet once he realized that he’d exposed his seed phrases, but the cryptocurrency from two wallets had already been taken within minutes.
⚠️ O Youtuber Ivan PERDEU TODO O DINHEIRO ao vivo por abrir sem querer um bloco de notas com a sua Chave Privada.
Autocustódia é algo que demanda extremo cuidado. Jamais guarde suas seeds e senhas no computador ou em local de fácil acesso. Perder todas as criptos é bem mais… pic.twitter.com/AxPsgQ7LWu
— Guilherme Rennó (@RennoGuil) August 30, 2023
Bianco shared the address for the Polygon wallet that swiped about 86,600 MATIC, which was worth about $50,800 at the time of the theft. Another 3.35 ETH ($5,750) worth of his stolen funds are still stuck in someone else’s wallet on Arbitrum, according to the streamer. Other, smaller amounts of crypto were also allegedly swiped by other users.
Bianco confirmed to Decrypt via email that he lost roughly $60,000 total worth of tokens along with NFTs. Protos reported that Bianco filed a police report after losing the funds. In an email to Decrypt, the YouTuber confirmed that he had spoken with the police.
“The police don’t understand much about this, so I think this will take time,” Bianco told Decrypt. “I'll have to look for it myself together with the community.”
After the funds were stolen, Bianco said that an unidentified man contacted him on Discord. They connected for a call, and Bianco claims that the individual said he had stolen the YouTuber’s crypto and regretted his actions.
“He said, ‘I fucked up here, I know what I did was bad,’ and he just hung up and left,” Bianco reportedly said after the incident.
After the call, the wallet that stole the majority of the funds returned the 86,600 MATIC to Bianco. Bianco confirmed to Decrypt that about $50,000 total worth of cryptocurrency was returned to him. Some of Bianco’s fans reportedly questioned the legitimacy of the course of events, but Bianco rejected those claims.
“I didn’t do anything to recover it. The guy wanted to return it for some reason,” Bianco said.
The YouTuber appears to have learned the thief’s identity—but doesn’t want to divulge the information.
“I won’t say his name, because the guy returned it and there’s no reason for me to screw him, even though what he did was wrong,” Bianco said.
As for other people who allegedly stole smaller amounts of cryptocurrency from his wallet, Bianco told Decrypt that they “are being tracked and will be located.” Going forward, the streamer hopes that the videos of the incident can “serve as a warning to everyone” to not repeat his mistake.