$94 million of Bitcoin stolen from Hong Kong exchange
Almost 120,000 units of bitcoin (worth about $US72 million) have been stolen from Hong Kong’s Bitfinex exchange platform - the second-biggest security breach ever at such an exchange.
Zane Tackett, Director of Community & Product Development for Bitfinex, said in a statement that 119,756 bitcoin had been stolen from users’ accounts and that the exchange had not yet decided how to address customer losses.
“The bitcoin was stolen from users’ segregated wallets,” he said. The theft amounted to about 0.75 per cent of all bitcoin in circulation.
“It’s the biggest USD exchange, so outside China it’s the one that everyone has an account with,” said Antony Lewis, a bitcoin expert in Singapore.
Bitfinex suspended trading on Tuesday after it discovered the breach. It said on its website that it was investigating and co-operating with the authorities.
Bitfinex is one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world, and is known in the digital currency community for having a platform that has deep liquidity in the US dollar/bitcoin currency pair.
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SOURCE: [news.com.au]
