Inside a $3 million crypto heist
In the late afternoon of March 16, 2022, Yuchen “Cassandra” Shi was alone in her Bernal Heights home when a masked man broke in. The knife-wielding figure was frightening enough, but his balaclava, ski goggles, and blue surgical gloves were particularly menacing.
After he forced Shi to a chair and bound her with duct tape and zip ties, he threatened her at knifepoint. But he didn’t want jewelry or cash. Instead, he sought something far more valuable—and far easier to steal with a few keystrokes: her cryptocurrency.
Throughout the ordeal, the man didn’t speak. Instead, he typed his demands into an (opens in new tab) iPad and held the screen up for Shi to read. Terrified, she complied, logging into her crypto wallets and emptying…
