Bithumb Falls Victim ToCryptocurrency Hack, More Than $30 Million Worth Of Cryptocurrencies Lost
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange platform Bithumb has announced that it has fallen victim to malicious hackers who have stolen digital currencies worth roughly $30 million.
Bithumb also announced yesterday that it has temporarily suspended withdrawals and deposits on its trading platform following the hack in which digital currencies with an estimated worth of more than $30 million were stolen. It also revealed that it has transferred the remaining cryptocurrencies to a cold storage to prevent further loss.
The announcement about the crypto hack on Bithumb comes just days after another South Korean crypto exchange called Coinrain reported that cryptocurrencies valued at around $40 million were stolen from its trading platform. Coinrail is not as popular as Bithum but it is one of the exchanges with the highest Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum (ETH).
Bithumb has also announced that it had plans to transfer all of its cryptocurrencies to a cold storage wallet just days before it was hacked. The exchange has been planning on improving its security and also upgrading its database but unfortunately, malicious hackers attacked the platform before it could make those changes.
It is not clear which day the hack took place and there is a lot of uncertainty around it, leading to speculation that the cryptocurrency heist might have been an inside job. As per the hack, it is believed that the culprits managed to pull off the theft by accessing a “hot wallet” connected to the internet that has assets traded on the Bithumbplatform.
Fortunately for the traders who use the platform, Bithumb announced that it will cover all the losses meaning users will not be affected by the losses. The only way that users will be affected is that they will not be able to withdraw or deposit funds in their Bithumb accounts although the suspended services will be restored soon.
Bithumb is currently ranked 5thin terms of market cap on Wordcoinindex with a 24-hour trading volume of more than $400 million. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell by $200 within an hour after the news of the Bithumb cryptocurrency heist was announced. The recent incidents of cyber-attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges have raised concerns about the strength of the security measures taken so far. It is also not the first time that the issue has come up. Numerous crypto exchanges have fallen victim to cyber-crime this year, thus escalating the concerns about the security measures.