Hackers steal $65 million … in bitcoin
Hackers made off with approximately $65 million in bitcoin in an enormous security breach of Hong Kong-based exchange Bitfinex on Tuesday. The digital currency thieves managed to get ahold of a total of 119,756 bitcoin, prompting Bitfinex to freeze all customer accounts, which resulted in a 20 percent nosedive in the price of bitcoin. Since, prices have recovered a bit.
"This will hurt confidence but people already using bitcoin are still trading," Arthur Hayes, founder of Hong Kong-based BitMEX, told The Financial Times.
The hack is being compared to a cyberattack on the exchange Mt. Gox, which ended up folding in 2014 after it lost 850,000 bitcoin, then worth about $500 million. That hack is still being investigated.
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Zane Tackett, who serves as the director of community and product development at Bitfinex, told CNN that the exchange is working to track the stolen bitcoins.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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