Bithumb claims its customers’ assets remain unaffected.
In yet another blow to the cryptocurrency community, Bithumb, North Korea's largest digital currency exchange, was hacked on Friday, March 29, and it looks as though the culprits may be among the exchange's own employees.
According to an announcement[1] from Bithumb, the exchange's security system noticed "abnormal withdrawals" taking place at approximately 10:15 p.m. KST on March 29. Bithumb claims all the stolen crypto was owned by the company and that its customers' assets, stored in Bithumb's cold wallet, remain unaffected. However, the exchange has halted[2] all withdrawals and deposits until the source of the hack is found.
Per Bithumb's announcement, an internal investigation revealed that the hack is most likely the work of "insiders." Bithumb is working with the Korean Internet and Security Agency (KISA), the Cyber Police Agency, and other security companies to track down the perpetrators and fix the breach that allowed the exchange to be hacked in the first place.
Bithumb apologized to its customers and even admitted that the hack was partially its fault:
"We constantly monitor and block external hacking. However, it was our fault that we only focused on defense of outside attack and lack of verification of internal staff. We will do our best to resume deposit and withdrawal as soon as possible to secure the service's stability."
Although Bithumb did not disclose the amount of crypto stolen in the attack, Dovey Wan, respected crypto insider and founder of virtual currency investment fund Primitive Ventures[3], tweeted[4] on March 29 that Bithumb was being hacked "at its EOS cold storage level" and that over 3 million EOS coins had been transferred out of the exchange. Although her claim that the hack was
