Million-Dollar Watch: Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing $245 Million in Bitcoin
A 22-year-old man who dropped out of school in the eighth grade has pleaded guilty to stealing $245 million worth of Bitcoin, one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history.
Malone Lam worked with others to target a Washington, D.C., resident and obtain his Bitcoin in 2024. The group impersonated Google and the Gemini crypto exchange, convincing the man to provide access to his Google Drive account, which contained the security codes for his cryptocurrency wallet.
Lam took 4,100 Bitcoin and converted it into currency, spending it on lavish items such as custom cars, rented mansions in Miami, and a $2 million watch. He also spent $569,000 in one night at a Los Angeles nightclub.
The FBI arrested Lam a month after he started spending the money, thanks to a mistake made by one of his group members who failed to use a VPN when setting up a cryptocurrency exchange account.