Bitcoinica Hack (Phase II)
A second hack drains 18,000 BTC from Bitcoinica's hot wallet, sealing the exchange's fate.
On May 11, 2012, just two months after the Linode breach, Bitcoinica was hacked again. This time, attackers accessed the production servers directly (likely via a compromised email account) and drained the hot wallet of approximately 18,547 BTC ($90,000).
This was the death blow. While the exchange had limped along after the first hack, this second breach shattered any remaining trust. The site was taken offline for "maintenance" and never fully reopened. It demonstrated the extreme difficulty of securing a hot wallet in 2012, even for "experienced" developers.