Bitcoin Falls Most in Three Months After Korean Exchange Hacked
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-exchange-hack
Down 50% on the year but still 100% higher than same time last year.
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Bitcoin extended losses for a third day, tumbling as much as 12 percent Sunday as South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail said there was a "cyber intrusion" in its system.
The largest cryptocurrency declined to $6,840 as of 4 p.m. in New York, the biggest drop since March 14, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from Bitstamp pricing. That widens Bitcoin’s losses for the year to 52 percent. Peer cryptocurrencies Ethereum and Ripple fell 10 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
Coinrail confirmed in a statement on its website that some of the exchange’s digital currency appears to have been stolen by hackers, but it did not quantify its value. Coinrail only said that it was cooperating with investigators and other exchanges to try and track down the perpetrators and recover the money.
The central security problem with digital currencies is that the money itself is typically represented by little more than a unique numerical code, which means the owner is wiped out if that data is ever stolen.
Coinrail said it’s reviewing its system due to hacking attempts. The exchange said it has managed to freeze all exposed NPXS, NPER and ATX coins, and that other cryptocurrencies are now being kept in a cold wallet. The statement is the only content available on the exchange’s homepage, and contact information could not immediately be located.
The exchange trades more than 50 different cryptocurrencies and was the 98th largest, with a 24-hour volume of about $2.65 million, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billyba.../#de0972f68013
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South Korea has emerged as a key market for cryptocurrencies, and earlier this year was the third-biggest market in the world for Bitcoin trades, behind Japan and the US, according to the digital currency website Coinhills.
Some of the biggest Bitcoin hacks in recent years have happened in the country, with Bithumb, which was at the time, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and the world’s fifth largest at the time, was hacked in July last year.
The data of almost 32,000 users data was compromised which allowed hackers to log in and transfer coins.
A few months later, in December, another exchange, Youbit, lost around 4,000 Bitcoins — some 17% of its assets.
While the potential Coinrail hack is unlikely to be on the same scale as either of last year's breaches it will shake the confidence of many potential Bitcoin investors at a troubled time for cryptocurrencies.
Coinrail said it has accounted for 70% of its cryptocurrency reserves in a statement posted to its website. The exchange moves around $2.6 million each 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data
