Kriti Mehrotra
When 120,000 bitcoins worth $72 million were stolen from Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange firm Bitfinex in 2016, it was the second most expensive cyber hack of its kind in history. However, as explored in Netflix’s ‘Biggest Heist Ever,’ no one could have imagined there would soon be a crypto boom, resulting in the value of these bitcoins skyrocketing to $4.5 billion by 2022. Thus, of course, it comes as no surprise the innocent victims of this theft were more than just devastated about losing their investment, amongst whom is actually Francisco “Frankie” Cavazos.
Frankie Cavazos Lost His Life’s Investment in 2016
It was in 2007 when Frankie kickstarted his professional career as a Welders Apprentice at Elkhorn Construction in his home state of Texas, only to work hard and prove his mettle in this world. So, by the time 2012 rolled around, he had lost the tag of Apprentice and was proudly serving as a freight locomotive builder at GE while also embracing collaboration opportunities with others. As if that’s not enough, he even enrolled at North Central Texas College in 2013 to pursue a formal education in his field of occupational-combination welding, all the while learning niche skills.
According to Frankie’s accounts, he developed an interest in cryptocurrency as an investment just prior to the mid-2010s — a year after the GE employee had completed his summer program. In fact, with mindful spending habits and significant efforts, he managed to save $15,000 by 2014, which he then put into Bitcoin on Coinbase in the hopes of raising its value. After all, this was his entire life’s savings, and he desperately wanted it to be the key to his dreams of pursuing a proper college education and being a worry-free homeowner one day soon.
Therefore, when Frankie heard about Bitfinex and the way it claimed to work with US regulators for the benefit of all its clients at every level, he decided to transfer his assets to that platform. He then began applying dollar-cost averaging strategies for further success by purchasing cryptocurrencies at $600, unaware his wallet would be hacked within mere weeks on August 2, 2016. As per his own statements, he had a significant portion of his net worth at roughly $10,000 in his account at the time, but all he saw was a clear $0.00 when he logged in on that fateful day.
Despite Doing Well These Days, Frankie Continues to Fight For What He Lost
While $10,000 is not an exceedingly large sum of money, it was significant to Frankie back in the summer of 2016, and it became even more so in the ensuing years because of the crypto boom. In fact, within six months of the hack, his bitcoins were worth $250,000, which has since only increased in value owing to market financial conditions as well as a rising interest in cryptocurrency. Bitfinex subsequently devised a compensation plan so as to pay back its customers, yet it was merely tokens for the value they lost, which would then be redeemed as quickly as possible.
Therefore, even though Frankie admittedly received compensation, he has since asserted that it was nothing compared to the $250,000 he would have had by late 2016 if the hack had never happened. He has remained steadfast in his decision not to have the funds in his account back; instead, he wants his cryptocurrency — as far as he remembers, the $10,000 he had came from 15 bitcoins. So, today, he is doing his best to reclaim what was lost by seeking legal action, especially since the US government was able to seize most of these stolen bitcoins in early 2022 after positively identifying Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein as the perpetrators.
As for Frankie’s current standing, he has spread his wings a lot since 2016 thanks to his decision to continue with cryptocurrency investment despite the unfortunate loss he had with the hacking. That’s because it has enabled him to fulfill his dreams in more ways than one — he is now financially independent, a cryptocurrency expert with features in Forbes as well as CNBC documentaries, and a Marketing & Data Analyst currently attending university.
He actually graduated with a Bachelor’s in Arts from the University of North Texas in 2020 before earning his Master’s in Analytics from the same institution in 2024, and now he is proud to be pursuing a Master’s in Finance. From what we can tell, this self-employed, family-oriented young man with a passion for both sports and travel is also doing his best to evolve into a documentarian these days — for this, he has even launched a YouTube channel.
Read More: Ilya Lichtenstein: Where is the Bitcoin Hacker Now?
