A major Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange has suspended trading after $65
million (roughly Rs. 435 crores) in the virtual unit was reportedly
stolen by hackers - sending the digital currency plunging more than 20
percent.
Bitfinex said it had suspended all transactions after discovering that some users' Bitcoins had been taken.
"Today
we discovered a security breach that requires us to halt all trading on
Bitfinex, as well as halt all digital token deposits to and withdrawals
from Bitfinex," the company said in a statement posted on its website
late Tuesday.
"We are investigating the breach to determine what
happened... we will look at various options to address customer losses
later in the investigation," it said.
Bloomberg News reported hackers took 119,756 Bitcoins, or about $65 million at current prices, from the platform.
The
value of the often-volatile currency plunged Wednesday to as low as
$482.82 from $603.06 Tuesday, according to Bloomberg News data, before
rising to $539.53 Wednesday afternoon.
"Yes, it is a large breach," said Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Coinbase, a cryptocurrency wallet and trading platform.
"Bitfinex
is a large exchange, so it is a significant short-term event, although
Bitcoin has shown its resiliency to these sorts of events in the past."
Rollercoaster ride
The
breach is the latest blow to digital currencies after the New York
Times reported in June that hackers diverted more than $50 million from
an experimental fund of another platform that trades Ether, a similar
unit to Bitcoin.
But the biggest case was in 2014, when the
Tokyo-based Mt Gox trading exchange, then the largest in the world,
declared bankruptcy when hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoins
were vanished or were stolen.
The company admitted 850,000 coins - worth around $480 million at the time - had disappeared from its digital vaults.
The collapse left a trail of angry investors calling for answers and denting the virtual currency's reputation.
Its
former CEO Mark Karpeles is facing allegations that he fraudulently
manipulated data and pocketed the cash. His lawyers said last month he
had been released on bail in Japan a year after his arrest on
embezzlement charges.
In the wake of the scandal, Japanese
lawmakers passed a bill stipulating that all "virtual currency"
exchanges must be regulated by the country's Financial Services Agency.
Bitcoins
are generated by complex chains of interactions among a huge network of
computers around the planet, and are not backed by any government or
central bank.
Bitcoin was launched in 2009 as a bit of software written under the Japanese-sounding name Satoshi Nakamoto.
Earlier
this year Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright claimed that he was the
creator, but some have raised doubts over his claim.
Other digital currencies followed the launch of Bitcoin but it was by far the most popular.
In 2013 Bitcoin's value peaked at more than $1,200 - almost as much as an ounce of gold.
But it has never reached those heights again, its value rising and falling regularly.
Crypto Price Today: Bitcoin Trades Close to $88,000, Majority Altcoins Register Gains26 March 2025
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