The world’s biggest dollar-based exchange for Bitcoin, Bitfinex in Hong Kong, reported the loss of almost 120,000 units of the digital currency worth $72 million on Thursday.
Known in the digital currency community for its deep liquidity, Bitfinex said the digital currency were stolen from users’ accounts, particularly their segregated wallets, said Zane Tackett, director of community & product development of Bitfinex, according to Reuters.
The exchange reported the loss to law enforces, and Bitfinex is cooperating with top blockchain analytic firms to find out where the stolen coins are. Bitfinex has a tie-up with BitGo, based in Palo Alto, California, to use multiple-signature security to store the Bitcoin deposits online and allow faster withdrawals. In a tweet, BitGo said it found no evidence of breach of any BitGo servers in its investigation.
The Bitfinex theft is the second-largest in Bitcoin history after the Mt. Gox hack in early 2015, reported Gizmodo. Because of the relative anonymous and irreversible nature of the digital currency, it is difficult to trace and reverse Bitcoin transactions unlike traditional bank financial dealings.
Some of the victims, such as a reddit user named nukumu, lost 12 years of life savings in the Hong Kong theft and has little chances of recovering the money back. While an investigation is still ongoing, Bitfinex said it would “look at various options to address customer loss.”
Because of the hack, the current value of the Bitcoin – around $556 – went down 23 percent.