Virtual money. Also known as cryptocurrency.

Wyoming was the first place on planet Earth to open a cryptocurrency bank and write some rules regarding this new form of currency.

Cryptocurrency has many advantages, but nothing is perfect.

A Wright Wyoming man has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to an online thief.

This is not like a regular robbery where someone makes off with bags full of cash. No one was wearing a mask. No guns. No car chase. This is online theft.

The video below explains how cryptocurrencies and the technology that allows them to function without a governing authority, "blockchain", work. But there is a claim in the video that blockchains make it "impossible to change, hack or cheat the system". Apparently, that's wrong.

This man's investment account was reportedly emptied without permission, according to Campbell County Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds. (Country 17).

To be fair, this can happen with any form of money. Most of today's transactions are online, no matter if you are dealing with the dollar or cryptocurrency.

The victim did what anyone does after being robbed, he called the sheriff.

This will call for a different type of investigation. Nobody broke into the physical bank. There will not be any fingerprints. But that does not mean that there is no digital evidence left behind. That is what investigators will look for.

The man reported making an initial investment on Sept. 17 of $50,000, and that the original investment had more than sextupled to $331,000 by Oct. 3, at which point the suspect took the money. (Country 17).

NurPhoto via Getty Images
NurPhoto via Getty Images
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From here the case goes on to the FBI.

U.S. cryptocurrency businesses are moving to Wyoming.

The cowboy state has revamped financial rules to attract bitcoin startups, putting it ahead of the Federal Reserve and other D.C. regulators. But the measures for bitcoin banks are untested, making it the venue for crypto’s first big rodeo. (REUTERS).

The first cryptocurrency bank in the world opened in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Wyoming has approved three applications, including one to the bitcoin trading platform Kraken Bank and Wyoming Deposit & Transfer.

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