Cryptocurrencies Exchange Bitfinex Reports Hack, Over $60 Million in Bitcoin Reported Stolen
A Bitfinex spokesperson said 119,756 bitcoin were stolen in the hack that took place Tuesday.
The exchange posted a note on its website at 2:06 pm EST on Tuesday announcing a theft had been reported, and the firm was cooperating with law enforcement. Zane Tackett, Bitfinex's director of community and product development, posted on Reddit that 119,756 bitcoin were stolen in the hack, which is worth roughly $67 million as of Wednesday early afternoon. Only bitcoin was stolen.
"As it stands, we are continuing to investigate the hack and understand exactly how relevant systems were compromised. We are also cooperating with authorities and the top blockchain analytic companies in the space to track the stolen bitcoins. In the meantime, we have been working on getting the platform up and running on a secure instance so that users can log in and see if their accounts have been affected as well as the state of their positions and orders. We hope to have an update with more substance later today UTC time," Tackett said in a post on Reddit.
Bitfinex is the largest exchange in terms of USD-denominated transactions over the past 30 days, according to bitcoincharts.com. Prior to the breach, the exchange had over $400 million in volume, according to the site, which tracks the bitcoin markets.
According to a tweet from Tuur Demeester, editor in chief at cryptocurrencies research firm Adamant Research, this is the third largest heist in the history of bitcoin, behind Silk Road (171,955 BTC) and Mt. Gox (850,000 BTC).
Largest heists in Bitcoin:
— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) August 3, 2016
1) MtGox: 850,000 BTC
2) Silk Road: 171,955 BTC
3) @Bitfinex: 119,756 BTC
4) MyBitcoin: 78,739 BTC
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