Bithumb Confirms Hack
The exchange tweeted that roughly $31.5million in coins was stolen.
This morning from Seoul, Bithumb confirmed via tweet that it has been hacked. Coins worth roughly $31.5 million (35 billion won) were taken off the exchange. Subsequently, the exchange shut down withdrawals and deposits, then began sending all available coins to cold wallets. Bithumb is currently ranked 6th largest exchange in the world by 24-hour volume.
The exchange has not revealed which coins were taken, how many coins were taken, or where the coins were sent to. This brings into question how the stated stolen dollar amount is such a round number. Bithumb has apparently siphoned off communications with the media about the hack. Any more concrete information about the hack at this time is just speculation. The lack of transparency is unnerving to some investors who traded on the exchange. As of now the exchange has not accepted responsibility for the hack and has not accused any other party.
This comes right on the heels of another attack at Coinrail less than 2 weeks ago. In that instance, the destination wallet of the stolen coins was made public quickly so it could be determined how exactly what was taken and when. So far Bithumb has declined to offer such information to the public. The string of unfavorable news coming out of Korea has become a suspicious pattern. Hardly two weeks go by without more bad news in regard to cryptocurrency. The regular frequency of reports and relatively equal severity is dubious, which could lead some to believe that these reports have been orchestrated for timing.
The price of Bitcoin dropped nearly 5% in just 2 hours following the announcement.
Virtual currency exchanges like Coinone, Coinrail, and Bithumb, all need far heavier oversight to be trustworthy. Trust in the exchanges that peddle the cryptocurrencies will only have positive effects on the market as whole. Charlie Lee tweeted, “be smart and only keep on exchange coins that you are actively trading. It’s best to withdraw right after trading.” Doing so, however, may not solve the problem since it is not a solution for the exchanges.
