Bitfinex HACKED - funds stolen !

[TastyChillySauce00]

Bitfinex "hired" a start up software company, ledgerlabs.com,  to make the financial audit. what a fraud....! another one made by Bitfinex!!!!

How can the Bitfinex's clients to allow that?

Also, ledgerlabs.com is their friend. 

A financial auditor must be certified, authorized. A software company cannot ever do a financial audit. 

I do not believe that their guilt for what happened there. Their safety should not cause doubt, and always should be monitored, and they are easily hacked and stole a huge sum. And now they want to compensate for losses due to users.

Compensate for losses? You mean they will make people pay with their own money for the noobish security the exchange was having, right? That's what is happening here.

users's balance will be cut off 36% and it's really not a win-win solution,the users suffering because of bitfinex's mistake,it's such a joke of the year
i think users already paying all the fees and it's enough for them to get the security and safety,this exchanger is really bad

[drwtsn32]

Bitfinex "hired" a start up software company, ledgerlabs.com,  to make the financial audit. what a fraud....! another one made by Bitfinex!!!!

How can the Bitfinex's clients to allow that?

Also, ledgerlabs.com is their friend. 

A financial auditor must be certified, authorized. A software company cannot ever do a financial audit. 

I do not believe that their guilt for what happened there. Their safety should not cause doubt, and always should be monitored, and they are easily hacked and stole a huge sum. And now they want to compensate for losses due to users.

Compensate for losses? You mean they will make people pay with their own money for the noobish security the exchange was having, right? That's what is happening here.

users's balance will be cut off 36% and it's really not a win-win solution,the users suffering because of bitfinex's mistake,it's such a joke of the year
i think users already paying all the fees and it's enough for them to get the security and safety,this exchanger is really bad

Good that it's back. But bad that it has took the loss to it's users.
Remember we are the clients here, they are the service. And we should not be involved in their mistakes.

[Searing]

My view on the Bitfinex hack.

1) they set up an exchange to make $$$ and pump volume and kinda set it up in if not a shady manner ..you could say it would be hard for local
authorities to just walk in and shut it down.....they can fade into the mist easy.....for authorities it is like trying to nail down jello.

2) they had constraints by regulators on cold storage so they half assed did probably what they thought was good enough security with their multi sig
plan...now that that has been proved to not work..oh well....they are incorporated as it were...so not like it is their personal wealth at stake if it
all goes belly up ..and also the fact of the matter of jurisdiction (see point 1)

3) So they float  plan to share the losses with everyone (they are covered) if it does not work well see 1 and 2 above...big whoop they are stilx
in the clear....if they can manage to get enough volume again to survive fine..if not...well they will declare bankruptcy like mt.gox did with the main
exception that is important and different from mt.gox  .... if it was
a legit hack not an inside job....they ... .simply let the corporation take the fall as various law enforcement agencies/countries drag the carcass down and feed.

4) In other words.....fuzzy jurisdiction .half-assed security...proper incorporation and terms of service.....(with point being it was a legit hack)
they can claim ignorance/and just plain wash their hands of i all and instead of not having the users eat 36% they will say frack it and let users eat
the 100% loss  like mt. gox and flush the exchange under their corporation protection..ie they walk free/clear/fat and happy

ie 1-4 the folks at the helm of bitfinex have their asses covered 6 ways to sideways imho..that is the reality

I myself am shocked they seem to have volume at this time..hell they may even get away with 2 above ..which works for them also

back to the point others have made..if it is not in your wallet and on an exchange is is not under your control..and there is no backup when security fails its all on you

anyway my lame viewpoint on this

[greatr]

Have they released technicals of the hack? Like how they got hacked...

They avoid any questions asking about technicals of the hack by saying there is an ongoing investigation, and they cannot comment until it's completed. They keep pasting this quote all over reddit in reply to any awkward questions.

we cannot release information about an ongoing investigation.

After the ongoing investigation there will probably be a court case, and they will again say they cannot comment until it's completed.

there is NO  ongoing investigation. it's just another shit from Bitfinex crooks.

well you might be right, we will never know it for sure, i guess we might just hope that it will never happen in the near future

[countryfree]

I find it really disturbing that more than 2 weeks after the hack, bitfinex is still totally unable to give an explanation on what happened. I guess it can happen again next week, then.

[bones261]

I find it really disturbing that more than 2 weeks after the hack, bitfinex is still totally unable to give an explanation on what happened. I guess it can happen again next week, then.

Someone gained access to where they had all the private keys stored for their multisign addresses. Since all the  multisign wallets were hot, it was an easy job. They probably don't want to reveal how they stored all the multisign keys, so there isn't fuel for a lawsuit or criminal prosecution.

[marky89]

I find it really disturbing that more than 2 weeks after the hack, bitfinex is still totally unable to give an explanation on what happened. I guess it can happen again next week, then.

Of course it can. It's brilliant: Get hacked --> do a bit of hand-waving then admit you have no idea how you were compromised --> reopen exchange. What could possibly go wrong?

TBH I wouldn't mind if they get hacked again. Everyone knows full well they should not trust Bitfinex with any funds. They are going to crash the market one way or the other; the sooner the better, so we can put this ordeal behind us. They are a giant storm cloud over the BTCUSD market.

It's inevitable that they will fuck up horribly again. They've always been incompetent; now they have incurred massive legal risks and have an admittedly insecure platform. They are dead in the water.

[takingthis4]

Have they released technicals of the hack? Like how they got hacked...

They avoid any questions asking about technicals of the hack by saying there is an ongoing investigation, and they cannot comment until it's completed. They keep pasting this quote all over reddit in reply to any awkward questions.

we cannot release information about an ongoing investigation.

After the ongoing investigation there will probably be a court case, and they will again say they cannot comment until it's completed.

there is NO  ongoing investigation. it's just another shit from Bitfinex crooks.

yeah it is sad to see that nothing has been done to get people money back, i hope it will never happen again because it is terrible

[digaran2]

Overall its not that bad as it looked from the outset,  if use cool wallet,will much safe!

[XCASH]

Have they released technicals of the hack? Like how they got hacked...

They avoid any questions asking about technicals of the hack by saying there is an ongoing investigation, and they cannot comment until it's completed. They keep pasting this quote all over reddit in reply to any awkward questions.

we cannot release information about an ongoing investigation.

After the ongoing investigation there will probably be a court case, and they will again say they cannot comment until it's completed.

there is NO  ongoing investigation. it's just another shit from Bitfinex crooks.

yeah it is sad to see that nothing has been done to get people money back, i hope it will never happen again because it is terrible

Bitfinex made a statement about an "ongoing investigation" it paid a company called Ledger Labs to do. It says Ledger Labs hasn't figured out how the hacker did it yet, but has identified things that could be improved. However, the statement doesn't discuss an official police investigation.

IMO paying Ledger Labs is a waste of money, it will never figure out how the hacker did it.


http://blog.bitfinex.com/announcements/interim-update/

Ledger Labs Inc., a top blockchain forensics and technology firm, is undertaking an analysis of our systems to determine exactly how the security breach occurred

The exact attack vector is as yet unknown, but Ledger Labs has already identified certain areas in our architecture that can be improved.

[QuestionAuthority]

Bitfinex hack could shake faith in bitcoin
Luke Graham
CNBC.com

The hack and cybertheft of nearly 120,000 bitcoins from the exchange platform Bitfinex could scare away future investors in the cryptocurrency, experts warn.

Bitfinex announced that it had suspended trading on the platform Tuesday and that it had discovered a security breach. In all, 119,756 bitcoins were reportedly stolen, worth $72.3 million at the price when Bitfinex suspended trade.
Bitcoin prices have plunged on the news, going as low as $514 per bitcoin. The cryptocurrency's value has risen back to $576, but this is still well below July prices.

The day after the hack, Bitfinex restored some of the platform's function, allowing users to determine their losses. However, key functions, such as trading and withdrawing bitcoins, are still disabled.
This is the latest high-profile hack to affect bitcoin. In April, around $230,000 was stolen from the trading platform ShapeShift, while Hong-Kong based Gatecoin lost more than $2 million of cryptocurrency in May. The biggest ever hack was in 2014, when Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox revealed $450 million worth of bitcoin was stolen.

Hacks such as these are likely to scare away new investment in the virtual currency.

"The core fundamental cryptographic strengths behind bitcoin remain strong but naturally events of this nature will spook potential investors," Charles Hayter, Chief Executive and Founder of cryptocurrency comparison website CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email.

"It's a reminder of the fragility of the infrastructure in such a nascent industry."
The hack also illustrates one of the main problems with investing in bitcoin; issues with security.

"Ask someone else to look after your bitcoins (through a virtual wallet) and you're trusting them like a bank. Real Banks spend billions on security. Stolen fiat currency leaves a trail that's hard to cover up. How much can a Bitcoin exchange spend on security?" James Lynn, U.K. managing director of blockchain payment company Billon Group, told CNBC via email.

Lynn warned that we are likely to see more bitcoin hacks, which may further undermine trust in the cryptocurrency.

"The fundamental bitcoin technology remains sound. But hackers target the weakest links - the applications on top of it. MTGox, DAO, Bitfinex. I fear we're only seeing the start of this trend, which could rock the very foundations of bitcoin value," he said.

[dserrano5]

key functions, such as trading and withdrawing bitcoins, are still disabled.

The article may be old, otherwise this statement says it all

[metropolia]

Bitfinex hack could shake faith in bitcoin
Luke Graham
C[Suspicious link removed]m

The hack and cybertheft of nearly 120,000 bitcoins from the exchange platform Bitfinex could scare away future investors in the cryptocurrency, experts warn.

Bitfinex announced that it had suspended trading on the platform Tuesday and that it had discovered a security breach. In all, 119,756 bitcoins were reportedly stolen, worth $72.3 million at the price when Bitfinex suspended trade.
Bitcoin prices have plunged on the news, going as low as $514 per bitcoin. The cryptocurrency's value has risen back to $576, but this is still well below July prices.

The day after the hack, Bitfinex restored some of the platform's function, allowing users to determine their losses. However, key functions, such as trading and withdrawing bitcoins, are still disabled.
This is the latest high-profile hack to affect bitcoin. In April, around $230,000 was stolen from the trading platform ShapeShift, while Hong-Kong based Gatecoin lost more than $2 million of cryptocurrency in May. The biggest ever hack was in 2014, when Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox revealed $450 million worth of bitcoin was stolen.

Hacks such as these are likely to scare away new investment in the virtual currency.

"The core fundamental cryptographic strengths behind bitcoin remain strong but naturally events of this nature will spook potential investors," Charles Hayter, Chief Executive and Founder of cryptocurrency comparison website CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email.

"It's a reminder of the fragility of the infrastructure in such a nascent industry."
The hack also illustrates one of the main problems with investing in bitcoin; issues with security.

"Ask someone else to look after your bitcoins (through a virtual wallet) and you're trusting them like a bank. Real Banks spend billions on security. Stolen fiat currency leaves a trail that's hard to cover up. How much can a Bitcoin exchange spend on security?" James Lynn, U.K. managing director of blockchain payment company Billon Group, told CNBC via email.

Lynn warned that we are likely to see more bitcoin hacks, which may further undermine trust in the cryptocurrency.

"The fundamental bitcoin technology remains sound. But hackers target the weakest links - the applications on top of it. MTGox, DAO, Bitfinex. I fear we're only seeing the start of this trend, which could rock the very foundations of bitcoin value," he said.

Thank you for sharing the article. This hacker must be crazy.    Amazing IQ and IT skills.

[QuestionAuthority]

Bitfinex hack could shake faith in bitcoin
Luke Graham
C[Suspicious link removed]m

The hack and cybertheft of nearly 120,000 bitcoins from the exchange platform Bitfinex could scare away future investors in the cryptocurrency, experts warn.

Bitfinex announced that it had suspended trading on the platform Tuesday and that it had discovered a security breach. In all, 119,756 bitcoins were reportedly stolen, worth $72.3 million at the price when Bitfinex suspended trade.
Bitcoin prices have plunged on the news, going as low as $514 per bitcoin. The cryptocurrency's value has risen back to $576, but this is still well below July prices.

The day after the hack, Bitfinex restored some of the platform's function, allowing users to determine their losses. However, key functions, such as trading and withdrawing bitcoins, are still disabled.
This is the latest high-profile hack to affect bitcoin. In April, around $230,000 was stolen from the trading platform ShapeShift, while Hong-Kong based Gatecoin lost more than $2 million of cryptocurrency in May. The biggest ever hack was in 2014, when Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox revealed $450 million worth of bitcoin was stolen.

Hacks such as these are likely to scare away new investment in the virtual currency.

"The core fundamental cryptographic strengths behind bitcoin remain strong but naturally events of this nature will spook potential investors," Charles Hayter, Chief Executive and Founder of cryptocurrency comparison website CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email.

"It's a reminder of the fragility of the infrastructure in such a nascent industry."
The hack also illustrates one of the main problems with investing in bitcoin; issues with security.

"Ask someone else to look after your bitcoins (through a virtual wallet) and you're trusting them like a bank. Real Banks spend billions on security. Stolen fiat currency leaves a trail that's hard to cover up. How much can a Bitcoin exchange spend on security?" James Lynn, U.K. managing director of blockchain payment company Billon Group, told CNBC via email.

Lynn warned that we are likely to see more bitcoin hacks, which may further undermine trust in the cryptocurrency.

"The fundamental bitcoin technology remains sound. But hackers target the weakest links - the applications on top of it. MTGox, DAO, Bitfinex. I fear we're only seeing the start of this trend, which could rock the very foundations of bitcoin value," he said.

Thank you for sharing the article. This hacker must be crazy.    Amazing IQ and IT skills.

I don't think anyone really believes it was a hack. Supposedly they turned the hacking investigation over to bitcoins best and brightest (Vitalik Buterin and Peter Todd) to research. If they don't find the weakness that allowed the penetration I think it's safe to assume Bitfinex stole the money.

NOW REMEMBER, several of bitcoins most respected community members toured MtGox long before the end and said nothing to the community about how poorly Mark Karpeles was running MtGox. It's very possible for a clean bill of health from these people to be meaningless.

[John Constantine]

They will certainly have significant decrease in trading volume after such events.

[metropolia]

Bitfinex hack could shake faith in bitcoin
Luke Graham
C[Suspicious link removed]m

The hack and cybertheft of nearly 120,000 bitcoins from the exchange platform Bitfinex could scare away future investors in the cryptocurrency, experts warn.

Bitfinex announced that it had suspended trading on the platform Tuesday and that it had discovered a security breach. In all, 119,756 bitcoins were reportedly stolen, worth $72.3 million at the price when Bitfinex suspended trade.
Bitcoin prices have plunged on the news, going as low as $514 per bitcoin. The cryptocurrency's value has risen back to $576, but this is still well below July prices.

The day after the hack, Bitfinex restored some of the platform's function, allowing users to determine their losses. However, key functions, such as trading and withdrawing bitcoins, are still disabled.
This is the latest high-profile hack to affect bitcoin. In April, around $230,000 was stolen from the trading platform ShapeShift, while Hong-Kong based Gatecoin lost more than $2 million of cryptocurrency in May. The biggest ever hack was in 2014, when Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox revealed $450 million worth of bitcoin was stolen.

Hacks such as these are likely to scare away new investment in the virtual currency.

"The core fundamental cryptographic strengths behind bitcoin remain strong but naturally events of this nature will spook potential investors," Charles Hayter, Chief Executive and Founder of cryptocurrency comparison website CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email.

"It's a reminder of the fragility of the infrastructure in such a nascent industry."
The hack also illustrates one of the main problems with investing in bitcoin; issues with security.

"Ask someone else to look after your bitcoins (through a virtual wallet) and you're trusting them like a bank. Real Banks spend billions on security. Stolen fiat currency leaves a trail that's hard to cover up. How much can a Bitcoin exchange spend on security?" James Lynn, U.K. managing director of blockchain payment company Billon Group, told CNBC via email.

Lynn warned that we are likely to see more bitcoin hacks, which may further undermine trust in the cryptocurrency.

"The fundamental bitcoin technology remains sound. But hackers target the weakest links - the applications on top of it. MTGox, DAO, Bitfinex. I fear we're only seeing the start of this trend, which could rock the very foundations of bitcoin value," he said.

Thank you for sharing the article. This hacker must be crazy.    Amazing IQ and IT skills.

I don't think anyone really believes it was a hack. Supposedly they turned the hacking investigation over to bitcoins best and brightest (Vitalik Buterin and Peter Todd) to research. If they don't find the weakness that allowed the penetration I think it's safe to assume Bitfinex stole the money.

NOW REMEMBER, several of bitcoins most respected community members toured MtGox long before the end and said nothing to the community about how poorly Mark Karpeles was running MtGox. It's very possible for a clean bill of health from these people to be meaningless.

Brilliant view, it is very possible that bitfinext stole the money by themselves. I read an article that bitfinex co-founder involved in a ponzi scam.

[upsidedown75]

Well there will be no doubt that there are actually people who believe finex was hacked.
Most of them, I would say were probably just new to bitcoin or maybe they are too kind to not blame finex.

[bones261]

Well there will be no doubt that there are actually people who believe finex was hacked.
Most of them, I would say were probably just new to bitcoin or maybe they are too kind to not blame finex.

Even if it was a hack, the fact that their multi-sign wallets were so vulnerable to getting the keys stolen demonstrates Bitfinex should go out of business. The best case is that Bitfinex was extremely careless.

[wxa7115]

I find it really disturbing that more than 2 weeks after the hack, bitfinex is still totally unable to give an explanation on what happened. I guess it can happen again next week, then.

Of course it can. It's brilliant: Get hacked --> do a bit of hand-waving then admit you have no idea how you were compromised --> reopen exchange. What could possibly go wrong?

TBH I wouldn't mind if they get hacked again. Everyone knows full well they should not trust Bitfinex with any funds. They are going to crash the market one way or the other; the sooner the better, so we can put this ordeal behind us. They are a giant storm cloud over the BTCUSD market.

It's inevitable that they will fuck up horribly again. They've always been incompetent; now they have incurred massive legal risks and have an admittedly insecure platform. They are dead in the water.

So Bitfinex bites the dust. M*rons like them are the ones that are keeping the population from adopting bitcoin, people see this and assume that adopting bitcoin is unsafe, when in fact they are a bunch of scammers.

[qiwoman2]

This puts a lt of newbies and other lay people off bitcoin because they feel vulnerable that their funds can be easily stolen, especially those who are not very tech savvy. This is such a shame really and this hacking was responsible for the latest price drop in bitcoin.