Julian Figueroa lost 14 BTC worth $1.6 million: he says millions of others will make the same mistakes

Host of The Exit Manual, Julian Figueroa, has lost 14 BTC over the last eight years, worth around $1.6 million today. As if that figure wasn’t bad enough, what’s worse is that “90% of people buying Bitcoin today” are going to make one of the three mistakes in Bitcoin security that cost Figueroa his precious BTC.

If you aren’t paying attention by now, you should be. Figueroa’s experience highlights a deeper, more sobering reality: the road to financial sovereignty is crowded with pitfalls, and nearly every user will repeat at least one of these hard-learned mistakes about Bitcoin security.

Bitcoins Bitcoin Security Mistake #1: Day Trading Dreams, Market Realities

Figueroa’s biggest regret? Trying to outsmart the cycles by actively trading:

“I lost 4 BTC just because I thought I’d buy low and sell high. Turns out, it’s nearly impossible—nobody beats the market over time, not pros, not hedge funds, nobody. If you just buy and hold, you almost always outperform the traders.”

The psychological pitfalls of FOMO, misreading tops and bottoms, and emotional fire sales catch even pros in the jaws of volatility. Many lose sight of Bitcoin security when risking coins on risky short-term moves.

Bitcoins Mistake #2: The Altcoin Trap

Figueroa lost another 2 BTC chasing altcoin hype:

“I bought coins I thought would outperform Bitcoin. They didn’t.”

Altcoins offer wild upside stories, but, as Figueroa calls it, “altcoin logic in a suit” often ends up as a distraction.

Study after study shows most altcoins underperform Bitcoin dramatically in the long run; a hard lesson seasoned by endless ‘make it, lose it’ stories among crypto’s earliest adopters. Choosing solid Bitcoin security means resisting distractions from speculative alternatives.

Bitcoins Mistake #3: Self-Custody or Bust

Yet, his biggest loss came from keeping coins on centralized exchanges. He says:

“8 BTC—nearly $1 million—vanished when an exchange failed.”

Trusting custodians instead of taking full personal control is the most common error, yet even veterans fall victim to comfort and convenience. The lesson here?

“Crypto exchanges are not banks, they’re casinos. Self-custody is the only real security.”

Bitcoins You’re Not Alone: Epic Bitcoin Losses from Around the World

Figueroa isn’t the first (or the biggest) Bitcoiner to learn these lessons the hard way:

James Howells accidentally threw away a hard drive holding 8,000 BTC, now worth more than $900 million. Stefan Thomas, a programmer, lost access to a wallet with 7,002 BTC (worth $777 million) after forgetting his IronKey password. He has only two guesses left before his fortune is gone forever.

During the infamous Mt. Gox exchange collapse in 2014, over 850,000 BTC were lost or stolen, leaving countless users permanently locked out and sparking industry-wide debates on Bitcoin security.

When QuadrigaCX’s founder died, he took the private keys to over $200 million with him, leaving thousands of users locked out of their funds. The list goes on and on—reminding investors that Bitcoin security starts and ends with personal accountability.

Figueroa’s story is a living lesson for both newbies and seasoned Bitcoiners alike. So how do you avoid joining the haunted ranks of the 2 million club?

Don’t try to trade “the bottom or the top.” Long-term holding historically outperforms almost every day-trader; just ask the 99% who’ve tried.

Ignore the siren song of altcoins promising outsized gains and stick to the fundamentals. And most importantly, hold your own private keys. Learn self-custody and take full responsibility for your digital assets. Because in Bitcoin, “not your keys, not your coins” is the cold, hard truth. Don’t let your story become another cautionary tale about Bitcoin security.