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  1. Technology
  2. Fintech

Hackers Steal $70 Million in Bitcoin

By:
Lisa Marie Segarra
2 min read
As bitcoins skyrocket to more than $12 000 for one BTC, many central banks as ECB or US Federal Reserve warn of risks of a bubble. Britain and the ECB want to monitor trade for money-laudering suspicions. The main U.S. derivatives regulator said it would allow CME Group Inc (CME.O) and CBOE Global Markets Inc (CBOE.O) to list Bitcoin futures contracts. - Photo by Alain Pitton—NurPhoto/Getty Images
As bitcoins skyrocket to more than $12 000 for one BTC, many central banks as ECB or US Federal Reserve warn of risks of a bubble. Britain and the ECB want to monitor trade for money-laudering suspicions. The main U.S. derivatives regulator said it would allow CME Group Inc (CME.O) and CBOE Global Markets Inc (CBOE.O) to list Bitcoin futures contracts. Photo by Alain Pitton—NurPhoto/Getty Images

In a theft on the cryptocurrency-mining service NiceHash, hackers made off with nearly $70 million worth of Bitcoin.

NiceHash announced the security breach on its Facebook page Wednesday afternoon, saying it is investigating the incident and stopping operations for 24 hours. NiceHash also recommended that users change their online passwords as a precaution, though they added "the full scope of what happened is not yet known."

NiceHash said it is working to determine the exact amount of Bitcoin that was stolen. However, the Wall Street Journal reported that Andrej P. Škraba, head of marketing at NiceHash, confirmed to the outlet that approximately 4,700 bitcoin, worth about $70 million, was missing from NiceHash's bitcoin wallet. Škraba also told the Journal that "it was a professional attack," but would not give any more information, noting that developments would be released at a later date.

NiceHash said its payment system was also compromised following the incident.

"We are fully committed to restoring the NiceHash service with the highest security measures at the earliest opportunity," the cryptocurrency-mining service said in its post.

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