Bloomberg News
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said about $30 million in virtual currencies that it held has been stolen by hackers.
Bithumb said early Wednesday, local time, that all deposit and withdrawal services had been suspended while it transferred all of its crypto assets to a secure cold wallet. It said it would “make up” all losses.
Bithumb is one of the largest crypto exchanges in Asia, with almost $360 million in assets, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
After news of the hack was announced, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee warned crypto users to “be smart” and not to leave coins on exchanges.
Another day, another hack. Hopefully BitThumb is able to cover this amount, though $30MM is not a small amount.
— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) June 20, 2018
As I've said many times, be smart and only keep on exchange coins that you are actively trading. It's best to withdraw right after trading. https://t.co/8YpVcHx8tK
Last week, Coinrail, another South Korean crypto exchange, was hacked, losing possibly more than $40 million. That sent the price of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, tumbling more than 10% in the immediate aftermath.
Earlier this year, North Korea was linked to attacks on South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges, and a previous report said North Korean hackers targeted four South Korean exchanges last summer.
Bitoin was down about 1.5% as of Tuesday night, U.S. time. Ethereum fell about the same, while bitcoin cash and Litecoin dropped more than 2%.