>if someone manages to steal $1000USD from my bank account, the overwhelming odds are that I'll get it back, if for no other reason than my bank will cover it.

>if someone manages to steal $1000USD from my bank account, the overwhelming odds are that I'll get it back, if for no other reason than my bank will cover it. That all depends on how they stole it. If they skimmed your ATM card and got the pin then they have the money, and it's gone, and your bank won't give it back(you're supposed to keep the PIN secret remember), and the police can do nothing. The overwhelming odds are that your money, once gone is gone for good. Also people don't steal bitcoins from your wallet, maybe they can steal the wallet itself but not the bitcoins from the wallet, and if that wallet is encrypted then good luck with that.