$8.7 Billion in Bitcoin from Mt. Gox Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

The past never dies on the blockchain. More than ten years after the Mt. Gox scandal, a bitcoin address holding the equivalent of 8.7 billion dollars resurfaces… targeted by a phishing attempt as subtle as it is ambitious. At the crossroads of cybercrime and digital memory, this new episode raises a troubling question: are the forgotten treasures of bitcoin doomed to become the eternal prey of modern scammers?

A Ghost BTC Address in the Crosshairs

The ghosts of the past have not finished haunting the crypto world. A bitcoin address, a relic from the infamous collapse of Mt. Gox, has resurfaced in the news, not for a historic transaction, but due to one of the boldest scam attempts.

This address, 1FeexV6bAHb8ybZjqQMjJrcCrHGW9sb6uF, holds 79,956 BTC, nearly 8.7 billion dollars, originating from the 850,000 bitcoins stolen in 2011. And today, it is the target of a phishing attempt with bewildering sophistication.

It was through a transaction containing an OP_RETURN field that hackers injected an intriguing message into the blockchain: a link to a website supposedly affiliated with the defunct investment bank Salomon Brothers.

The message claims that the wallet is “lost or abandoned” and calls on the owner to identify themselves. A subtle strategy, disguised as a good faith quest, but clearly a phishing attempt.

This ruse, crude though it may seem to veterans, reveals a new dimension of cybercrime: social engineering rooted directly in the blockchain itself. An attack halfway between digital nostalgia and scam 3.0.

Bitcoin, Eternal Memory and Fertile Ground for Scammers

What is striking here is the use of the Bitcoin protocol not for financial exchanges but as an opaque communication channel. Thanks to OP_RETURN, it is possible to inscribe data directly into the blockchain.

Where this feature was previously limited to 80 bytes, things are about to change. Bitcoin Core version 30, expected in October 2025, will allow much larger capacity: up to 4 MB of data per OP_RETURN output.

In other words, tomorrow, fraudsters will no longer need short, cryptic messages. They will be able to embed entire scripts, malicious files, or full narratives directly into the blockchain itself—immutable, indelible, and forever public. This shift raises a troubling question: how far can Bitcoin’s code be twisted without compromising its philosophy?

Decentralization provides resistance to censorship, yes, but also a free lane for opaque operations. And as long as billions lie dormant in forgotten wallets, vultures will keep circling above.

Mt. Gox: Bitcoin’s Eternal Millstone

Behind this recent attempt lies an open wound never healed: the fall of Mt. Gox, one of the largest bankruptcies in crypto history. Of the 850,000 vanished BTC, only 140,000 have been recovered, and a rehabilitation plan passed in 2021 aims to compensate creditors up to 90%… someday.

But the remaining 710,000 bitcoins? Most remain silent. Frozen in the marble of digital time. Yet, their mere existence fuels desire. Every inactive address becomes a potential target. A safe that scammers hope to see open, by means of subterfuge, rumors, or legal loopholes.

Ironically, these bitcoins have become funerary monuments. Witnesses of a turbulent past but also of Bitcoin’s youth marked by chaos, broken dreams, and lack of safeguards.

This new chapter around Mt. Gox is not just another anecdote. It reveals Bitcoin’s ambivalence: a tool of radical freedom, but also a magnet for scammers. The targeted address has not moved in over a decade, yet it continues to make waves.

As long as these funds remain idle, they will continue to feed fantasies and scams. Bitcoin itself stays true to its nature: a neutral technology, capable of both the best and worst, and whose story is definitely just beginning. Witness BlackRock, which now holds over 700,000 BTC via its ETF.