Bithumb: US$35m in coins hacked
Print Edition
SOUTH Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said 35 billion won (US$31.5 million) worth of virtual coins were stolen by hackers, the second local exchange targeted in just over a week as cyber thieves exposed the high risks of trading the digital asset.
Bithumb said in a notice on its website yesterday that it had stopped all trading after ascertaining “some cryptocurrencies worth about 35 billion won were seized between late yesterday and early morning today.”
The exchange, the sixth busiest in the world according to Coinmarketcap.com, said it had stored “all clients’ assets in safe cold wallets,” which operate on platforms not directly connected to the Internet. It added that the company would fully compensate customers.
The Bithumb theft highlights the security risks and the weak regulation of global cryptocurrency markets. Global policy-makers have warned investors to be cautious in trading the digital currency given the lack of broad regulatory oversight.
In Ho, a professor at Korea University’s Blockchain Research Institute, said the stolen coins were most likely to be from the more insecure “hot wallets.”
“Since coins in the cold wallets are not at all wired to the Internet, it would have been impossible for hackers to steal those in cold wallets unless they physically broke in,” said In.
Bithumb did not immediately respond to reporters’ request for comments, and its statement did not say whether the stolen coins were stored in its “hot wallets.”
Mun Chong-hyun, chief analyst at ESTsecurity, said digital coins would continue to be juicy targets for hackers around the world.
“No security measures or regulations can 100 percent guarantee safety of virtual coins. It is held anonymously and in lightly-secured systems, which makes them an irresistible target,” Mun said.
On the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp, bitcoin BTC=BTSP was down 1.8 percent at US$6,612.92 by 0351 GMT, extending losses as a series of intrusions on cryptocurrency exchanges in recent weeks sparked concerns over security.
It has fallen roughly 70 percent from its all-time peak hit around mid-December 2017.
On June 11, another South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail said it was hacked. The cyber attacks come after a high-profile theft of over half a billion dollars worth of digital currency at Japan’s exchange Coincheck earlier this year.
In January, South Korea banned the use of anonymous bank accounts for virtual coin trading to stop cryptocurrencies being used in money laundering and other crimes. But the government said it does not intend to go as far as shutting down domestic exchanges.
Bithumb trades over 37 different virtual coins, said Coinmarketcap.com
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
