Monday, January 29th 2018
Japanese Crypto Exchange Coincheck Hacked, Biggest Heist in History of the World
In what amounts (for now) to the biggest heist in the history of the world, Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, which handles about 3% of the total cryptocurrency transactions, has apparently been on the receiving end of a $500 million hack to its crypto vaults. The heist, which seems to have particularly over the NEM cryptocurrency, took some $532 million worth of the cryptocurrency from the exchanges' coffers. This news comes after Coincheck halted all NEM transaction on its exchange starting this morning, without previous warning, which raised red flags on the NEM investor community and Coincheck users. Additionally, it's being reported that there was an additional $123 million worth of Ripple cryptocurrency taken, as well.
For now, Coincheck has only issued an update saying that "Depositing NEM on Coincheck is currently being restricted. Deposits made to your account will not be reflected in your balance, and we advise all users to refrain from making deposits until the restriction has been lifted", so, there's no confirmation of the heist as of now. However, Nikkei is reporting that Coincheck has reported the theft to the local Financial Services Agency and the police. If confirmed, this is easily the biggest heist in the world's history, and not coincidentally, the biggest in crypto history as well.
Sources:
Coincheck, via Tom's Hardware
For now, Coincheck has only issued an update saying that "Depositing NEM on Coincheck is currently being restricted. Deposits made to your account will not be reflected in your balance, and we advise all users to refrain from making deposits until the restriction has been lifted", so, there's no confirmation of the heist as of now. However, Nikkei is reporting that Coincheck has reported the theft to the local Financial Services Agency and the police. If confirmed, this is easily the biggest heist in the world's history, and not coincidentally, the biggest in crypto history as well.
36 Comments on Japanese Crypto Exchange Coincheck Hacked, Biggest Heist in History of the World
I've been involved with crypto nearly since it's inception and never lost a penny to nefarious actors either, but I know what I am doing.
With conventional money, you are only a user. With crypto, you are essentially the bank as well, with all the responsibility that entails. Trust is thus a big thing there as there is no "rookie shield."
That is the most crazy conspiracy I've ever read.
tl;dr: Humans. My money's been safe in crypto for a very very long time. Just as you wouldn't trust a sketchy site with your credit card, don't trust them to hold your crypto either! Web wallets are bad wallets!
Crypto is safe. People aren't.
A smart user would keep his wallet off a webserver-enabled or remotely accessable system, preferably on a highly secure one. This obviously isn't an option for exchanges because they need to move money between wallets quickly via a web-accessible machine. Which is precisely why you should never store anything with them for long.
A smart crypto user probably also encrypts his wallet. An exchange can't do this because they'd literally have to type the password for every transaction. Automation is their downfall.