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It’s happened again, folks. Another exchange has been hacked and millions in crypto have been stolen, resulting in lesser prices and a big, nasty bruise for the digital asset arena.
When Is All This Hacking Nonsense Going to Stop?
The victimized exchange is Bitrue, located in Singapore. It is estimated that the culprits made off with over $4.5 million in both Ripple (XRP) and Cardano (ADA) funds. At press time, both currencies are down for the count, with Ripple having experienced a near-ten percent drop in its price, while Cardano is down by just more than seven percent.
Bitcoin, itself, is also down, and trading in the mid-$10,000 range. This is about $3,000 less than where it stood 24 hours ago, having been trading for around $13,400 on June 26. The currency has developed a thicker skin and stronger resistance against manipulation and market trends over the past few months, but it appears not all those vulnerabilities have been worked out. At press time, it is unclear why bitcoin’s price has fallen, and enthusiasts are left to assume that the near-$5 million hack played some role in the coin’s present demise.
This is not only annoying but saddening for the crypto community. Bitcoin has worked long and hard to bring itself up over the past few months, so the idea of someone just sneaking into an exchange and making off with money that’s not theirs and that they didn’t earn is quite upsetting. This brings down the legitimacy of the industry, and makes many believe that crypto, despite its recently bullish behavior, is still too risky for average investors.
Bitrue first acknowledged the hack on its Twitter account, explaining to its followers:
First of all, please let us assure you that this situation is under control. 100 percent of lost funds will be returned to users, and we are reviewing our security measures and policies to ensure this does not happen again.
Once the hack had been recognized, trading was immediately halted, and the company’s online platform was placed in “maintenance” form to give executives time to assess the damage. At press time, Bitrue is still down, though the company has issued a statement explaining that trading is likely to resume within the next few hours if all goes according to plan.
Hunting Down the Culprits
The company also explained:
We have contacted the relevant authorities in Singapore to assist us in tracking down the culprit and retrieving the stolen funds.
This is Bitrue’s second attack this year. The first occurred last January when the company fell victim to a 51 percent attack while an alleged hacker tried to make off with approximately $100,000 worth of Ethereum Classic tokens. Bitrue was ultimately able to divert this attack and prevent the theft.