BitGrail
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anchored·4skzrw…ae85Summary
BitGrail was a Florence-based Italian cryptocurrency exchange operated by Francesco Firano (online alias 'The Bomber') that collapsed in February 2018 following the alleged theft of approximately 17 million Nano (XRB) tokens then valued at roughly $170 million. Evidence gathered by Italian investigators and the Italian Bankruptcy Court indicated that Firano was aware of unauthorized withdrawals as early as mid-2017 yet continued to attract new users without disclosure, and that he transferred 230 Bitcoin to a personal account three days before publicly announcing the loss. Both the exchange and Firano personally were declared bankrupt by an Italian court in January 2019; Italian Postal Police subsequently charged Firano with computer fraud, fraudulent bankruptcy, and money laundering in December 2020.
Connected Entities
1 entities- + 3 more
Timeline(13 events)
July 2017
Alleged first unauthorized withdrawals from BitGrail: approximately 2.5 million Nano tokens lost. Firano acknowledges blacklisting related accounts on Twitter but does not formally disclose a breach.
Finance Magnates / BitGrail Victims Group (Medium)23 October 2017
A further unauthorized withdrawal of 1,000,000 XRB is recorded in BitGrail's database at 1:22 AM GMT. Firano does not report the incident to authorities or users.
Finance Magnates2018
BitGrail suspends Nano deposits and begins an internal audit, citing a suspected fund shortfall. Non-European users are banned; daily Bitcoin withdrawal limits are cut from 10 BTC to 1 BTC.
CoinMarketCap Academy6 February 2018
Firano allegedly transfers approximately 230 Bitcoin (valued at roughly 1.7 million euros) from BitGrail accounts to his personal account at The Rock Trading exchange, three days before the public hack announcement.
CoinDesk / The Next Web8 February 2018
Firano shares an example of an unauthorized transaction with the Nano core development team for the first time.
Finance Magnates9 February 2018
BitGrail publicly announces a hack via Twitter and its website, disclosing a shortfall of 17 million Nano tokens (approximately $170 million at prevailing prices). All transactions suspended. Nano core team publishes official statement rejecting protocol-level responsibility.
TechCrunch / Nano Medium11 February 2018
Nano development team publishes 'BitGrail Insolvency Update' on Medium, stating no double-spending was detected on the Nano ledger and the loss is not attributable to the Nano protocol. Team declines Firano's alleged request to modify the Nano blockchain ledger.
Nano (official Medium)April 2018
First US class-action lawsuit filed by investor Alex Brola alleging conspiracy between Nano core team and Firano to lure investors to the exchange.
CryptoSlate21 January 2019
Italian Bankruptcy Court publishes ruling declaring both BitGrail and Francesco Firano personally bankrupt. Court orders seizure of Firano's personal assets (over $1 million seized, including his vehicle) and transfer of exchange crypto holdings to court-appointed trustees. Court finds BitGrail, not the Nano protocol, responsible for the security failure.
Decrypt / The Next Web / CoinTelegraph2019
Second US class-action lawsuit filed by law firms Silver Miller and Levi and Korsinsky on behalf of James Fabian, naming BitGrail and Nano Foundation as defendants and seeking a 'rescue fork.'
Finance Magnates7 April 2019
Nano Foundation seeks dismissal of the 'rescue fork' class-action lawsuit.
Silver Miller Law / Decrypt21 December 2020
Italian Postal Police formally report allegations against Firano, charging him with computer fraud, fraudulent bankruptcy, and money laundering. Investigators allege he either actively participated in the theft or deliberately failed to improve security after discovering the initial breach.
CoinDeskDecision Log
- hash: 9RiJhN59xMMZgkLYU9xJQ4W9pu5RLXyDDSnV55QAJyQ6
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 17 of 20 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-5
generated: 5/30/2026, 12:57:43 PM
last updated: 7/26/2026, 7:19:00 AM
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