Hackers Stole Around $60 Million in Cryptocurrency Exchange Hack

• November 14, 2018
• by:  RKN Global
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Hackers recently stole cryptocurrency worth about $60 million  from Zaif, a Japanese digital currency exchange.

Hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges grab good deal of attention because the exchanges are easy targets. Through some of the most popular cryptocurrency hacks, hackers stole more than 980,000 bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies from unregulated and uninsured cryptocurrency exchanges.  The cryptocurrency was worth over $15 billion USD at current exchange rates.

Storing money on a centralized exchange is risky

This recent hack and the many previous hacks from digital currency exchanges highlight the risks of storing cryptocurrency on centralized exchanges.

Some of the major recent hacks of exchanges include:  BitGrail Exchange in February (hackers stole 17,000,000 NANO worth $195,000,000). CoinSecure Exchange in April (hackers stole over 438 BTC worth $3,300,000). Coinrail Exchange in June (hackers stole several tokens worth $40,000,000 ). And Coincheck Exchange in January (hackers stole 523,000,000 Asian crypto NEM worth $534,800,000).

Hackers previously attacked the Zaif exchange before for two hours as well.  They illegally relayed several digital currencies from its “hot wallet.”  A hot wallet is the place where all digital coins are stored at such cryptocurrency exchanges.

The news site Tech Bureau said that the Japanese exchange went offline until it could get solid information related to the damage and it could see success in its efforts to get it working again.

Zaif – a government-registered exchange

Zaif Exchange also made news earlier when it let seven customers buy Bitcoin with no Yen value. A system bug at the Japan-based exchange allowed users to obtain a theoretical $20 trillion USD worth of the cryptocurrency for free.  One user bought Bitcoin valued at 2,200 Trillion Yen and tried to cash in on it.  The company subsequently invalidated all of the transactions.

Japanese police received reports of almost 670 cases of suspected money laundering linked to digital currencies between April and December.

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About RKN Global

RKN Global’s founder, Ronald Noble, fought corruption on all fronts as INTERPOL’s Secretary General from 2000 to 2014. At INTERPOL, Ronald Noble discovered a link between corruption and fraudulent passports and identity documents. Ronald Noble believes that by fighting corruption and improving the quantity and quality of passport screening, the world will become a safer place.

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