Bitcoin price LIVE: BTC to fall after massive $30 million HACK heist in South Korea
BITCOIN was dealt another blow last night after South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said $31.5 million was stolen by hackers causing the principle coin to fall from $6,742 to $6,562.
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8.00am MORNING HEADLINES
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Bitcoin is currently price at $6,618, with Ethereum at $523 and Ripple at $0.53.
Hack attack
South Korean exchange Bithumb said in a notice on its website on Wednesday that it had stopped all trading after ascertaining “some cryptocurrencies worth about 35 billion won were seized between late yesterday and early morning today.”
The exchange, thas now moved “all clients’ assets in safe cold wallets,” which operate on platforms not directly connected to the internet, adding that customers affected would be fully compensated.
Mun Chong-hyun, chief analyst at ESTsecurity, warned that cryptocurrencies represent an ideal target for hackers.
He said: “No security measures or regulations can 100 percent guarantee safety of virtual coins. It is held anonymously and in lightly-secured systems, which makes them an irresistible target."
Earlier this month another South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail was hacked, marking loses of around $40 million.
Updates below throughout the day....
8.21am - Bitcoin falls
Bitcoin has shed $113 on the day so far, although losses are narrowing.