Cryptocurrencies tumble after second South Korean exchange says it was robbed
Hong Kong — Cryptocurrencies dropped after the second South Korean exchange in as many weeks said it was the victim of a theft, renewing the fear about the security of digital-asset trading venues. Bithumb, ranked seventh in the world by traded value on Coinmarketcap.com, said on Wednesday that about 35-billion won ($32m) worth of coins were stolen. The exchange said it would compensate victims, adding that it had halted cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals and moved investor assets to a so-called cold wallet that was disconnected from the internet and less vulnerable to hacking. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, dropped as much as 2% and was trading at $6,598 as of 10.06am in Hong Kong, bringing this year’s decline to 54%, according to Bloomberg composite pricing. Other tokens including Ripple, Ethereum and Litecoin also retreated. Enthusiasm for virtual currencies has waned in 2018 partly due to a string of cyber heists, including the nearly $500m theft from Japanese exchang...
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