Bloomberg News
A South Korean cryptocurrency exchange said it suffered a “cyberintrusion,” prompting bitcoin prices to fall sharply toward year lows.
Bitcoin dropped more than 10% over the weekend, falling below $6,700, according to research site CoinDesk. The largest cryptocurrency has lost more than half its value this year, falling by nearly two thirds from its record high near $20,000 in December. Its low for the year came in February at less than $6,000.
Other large cryptocurrencies like Ethereum , Ripple and bitcoin cash have all fallen more than 11% over the past 24 hours. EOS, the token backed by startup Block.one which has raised more than $4 billion, is down 20%, according to research site coinmarketcap.com.
The latest declines came after a small exchange called Coinrail said Sunday several so-called alt coins — alternative versions of bitcoin — appeared to have been stolen in the attack. Coinrail said 70% of its digital assets have been moved to what is known as a cold wallet — storage that isn’t connected to the internet — and that it is working with authorities on finding the lost assets. Coinrail didn’t say how much was stolen in terms of value, but it is possible that more than $40 million worth of alt coins were taken, according to a wallet address that some have said belongs to an attacker.
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