[2017-12-07] NiceHash: More than $60 million worth of bitcoin potentially stolen

[cybersofts]

More than $60 million worth of bitcoin potentially stolen after hack on cryptocurrency site

    - Users highlighted the cyber breach on Reddit and Twitter Wednesday, with some saying they could lose hundreds of dollars.
    - While NiceHash was unable to specify how much bitcoin had been stolen, users have pointed to a bitcoin wallet which holds 4,736.42 bitcoins — equivalent to $67 million.



Hackers may have gotten away with $60 million worth of bitcoin after a cyber attack hit the cryptocurrency mining platform NiceHash.

Users highlighted the cyber breach on Reddit and Twitter Wednesday, with some saying they could lose hundreds of dollars.

NiceHash lets people offer computing capacity for bitcoin miners to mine digital currencies. Cryptocurrency miners work out complex mathematical equations to add cryptocurrency transactions to decentralized public ledgers called blockchains.

The mining marketplace initially said its service was undergoing "maintenance"on Twitter, later adding it was "working hard" to resolve issues affecting the site.

NiceHash said in a statement it was "investigating the nature of the incident," and that it would close down its site for a day.

"We are working to verify the precise number of BTC (bitcoin) taken," the company said. "Clearly, this is a matter of deep concern and we are working hard to rectify the matter in the coming days.In addition to undertaking our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are co-operating with them as a matter of urgency."

While NiceHash was unable to specify how much bitcoin had been stolen, users have pointed to a bitcoin wallet which holds 4,736.42 bitcoins — equivalent to $68 million.

Andrej P. Škraba, head of marketing at the firm, confirmed to news agency Reuters that around 4,700 bitcoins — worth roughly $68 million at current prices — were lost in the hack.

CNBC reached out to NiceHash Chief Executive Marko Kobal for comment but he was not available at the time of publication.

This wouldn't be the first time people have lost millions in cryptocurrency. In November, millions of dollars worth of Ethereum were "accidentally" frozen on the cryptocurrency wallet provider Parity after a user "suicided" the wallet, deleting its code and freezing all ether tokens contained within.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/07/bitcoin-stolen-in-hack-on-nicehash-cryptocurrency-mining-marketplace.html#

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[Lucius]

Holding BTC on any online service is actually the greatest possible risk to which users today are exposed,and this is not last time that such things happen.Here we must take into consideration that this may be inside job some of the employees,or they just send BTC away and say #we are hacked".

I do not know do they have some way of insurance to pay users although I doubt it-users will likely stay without theirs BTC, but maybe they learn that such services are SCAM in one way or another.

[Lampaster]

I'm so sorry this happened. Nicehash was very comfortable. I hope that they will find a window through which the hackers penetrated. It seems to me that after such an event they will never regain their popularity. I don't feel sorry for my coins they had in the account. I'm sorry that along with the money hackers stole people's work their whole life.

[BitHodler]

I do not know do they have some way of insurance to pay users although I doubt it-users will likely stay without theirs BTC, but maybe they learn that such services are SCAM in one way or another.

No such a thing as insurance is involved here. In best case scenario they will probably launch a debt token that they at some point will buy back from people at a 1 to 1 ratio, but I'm afraid that people will be left with nothing.

It's a great service for sure, and to a certain extent, it offers people a decent bit of convenience, but it's not like an exchange that's generating massive amounts of income through the current increased volumes.

This will open the door for other similar platforms to fight for the thousands of NiceHash refugees that have no place to go to at this point. It's ultra stupid for a service to have that many coins in hot wallets. They're asking for it.

[MoonJeina]

I heard this news and this shiverred the hell out of me leaving my eyes popped out .
With the increase in the coinbase , the vulnerability of bitcoin has increased in terms of security and access control . It is hard to recognize and find out the best online wallet to store the value . It is indeed the fact that big amounts must be kept in offline wallets or cold storage but they are not dynamic enough to use and sometimes for making some quick on time transactions online wallets are needed . Nice Hash was one of the most reputed , I hope people get refund and this problem gets solved . But for now , the developers need to maximize the wallet securities and backups.