Hackers loot $400,000 of cryptocurrency Stellar Lumen

Hackers have stolen $400,000 (£290,000) worth of the Stellar Lumen cryptocurrency in an online attack.

The thieves targeted the virtual currency wallet BlackWallet, which stores Lumen virtual coins, stealing 669,920 of the digital tokens from user accounts, BBC News reports.

The stolen funds were moved to the virtual currency exchange Bittrex, the news site says, where the hackers are expected to convert them into a different digital token “to hide their tracks”.

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According to tech website Bleeping Computer, the BlackWallet team posted messages on social media warning users of their service about the cyberattack.

However, many users continued to access the virtual wallet and lost their digital tokens.

In a statement posted on chat forum Reddit, BlackWallet’s creator, known only by the username orbit84, said: “I am sincerely sorry about this and hope that we will get the funds back. I am in talks with my hosting provider to get as much information about the hacker and will see what can be done with it.”

Stellar Lumen is among the top ten cryptocurrencies, says the Daily Express, with about $11.6bn (£8.4bn) worth of the digital coins currently in circulation.

But the currency is still far smaller than the most popular tokens, such as bitcoin and Ethereum, worth $240.3bn (£174.8bn) and $127.4bn (£92.7bn) respectively, the newspaper adds.

In the wake of the cyberattack, the price of Stellar Lumen fell from $0.6 (£0.44) per coin to $0.4 (£0.3), according to crypto market tracker CoinMarketCap.