Doncaster cryptocurrency novice ends up with £185,000 in account 'by mistake'

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A Doncaster cryptocurrency novice received £185,000 of Bitcoin in his account – by mistake.

Crypto lender and trading platform BlockFi has admitted it made incorrect transfers to around 100 investors and has asked for the money back.

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According to The Sun, Steve Brooks had only been trading with BlockFi for a month but took part in a promotion that paid users free Bitcoins (BTC) if they made trades during March.

The 38-year-old consultant had only £60 worth of cryptos in his account before the promotion but was shocked when he logged in this month to see he had been sent 5.3 (BTC) worth $261,000 as a "reward" from BlockFi.

Steve Brooks was given £185,000 of Bitcoin by mistake.Steve Brooks was given £185,000 of Bitcoin by mistake.
Steve Brooks was given £185,000 of Bitcoin by mistake.

Steve said: "I had no idea what was going on."

He added: "I could have done anything with it at that point - changed it into another currency or withdrawn it into my bank account."

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In an email to Steve, BlockFi said: "Failure to return the erroneously received assets constitutes a crime and will result in BlockFi taking legal action."

The Doncaster-based investor consulted with lawyers over the payment and eventually decided to send the money back in return for £3,500 compensation.

BlockFi said in a statement on Twitter that approximately 100 clients were able to "access erroneous deposits and withdraw funds from the platform on 17 May."

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It said: "The company’s exposure is currently approximately $10 million and decreasing quickly as clients are returning funds.

"We are incredibly grateful for our clients understanding the mistake and returning funds that did not belong to them.