Hackers hit South Korean cryptocurrency exchange for $31.5M | Tech News

Cybercriminals haven’t been very kind to South Korea’s cryptoexchanges recently.

About 35 billion won (roughly $31.6 million) worth of virtual currency was stolen in a hack on South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Bithumb is listed as the world’s sixth busiest exchange on Coinmarketcap.com.

The attack is the second to hit a crytopexchange in the country in 10 days. Last week Coinrail lost about 30 percent of its coins to hackers, which then saw the value of Bitcoin tumble to a two-month low. At time of writing, cryptocurrency news service Coindesk recorded a nearly 2 percent drop in Bitcoin value from Tuesday.

Following the attack, Bithumb has stored all assets in “safe cold wallets,” according to Reuters. The exchange will fully compensate its clients.

Although Bithumb might not be keen to advertise the loss, deleting its initial tweet announcing the hack and promise of compensation.

South Korea is no stranger to cyberheists, with its Northern counterpart accused of having masterminded an attack that resulted in the theft of 70 Monero coins last summer.

CNET has reached out to Bithumb for a comment.

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