South Korea’s major crypto exchange suspended after hack

SEOUL, June 20 (UPI) — South Korea’s major cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb was hacked in a cyberattack in which some $31.5 million (35 billion won) worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen.

Bithumb, the world’s sixth largest crypto exchange, suspended its deposit and withdrawal service due to “safety issues” while transferring all assets to “cold wallet” that is not connected to the internet, the company announced on Twitter.

The hacking attack came 10 days after another South Korean crypto exchange Coinrail suffered an attack in which they lost virtual coins worth more than $37 million on June 10.

Coinrail is a relatively smaller crypto exchange platform with approximate $2.5 million trading volume, according to Nasdaq. The trading volume of Bithumb is roughly $398 million, according to an index by CoinMarketCap.

The attack on Bithumb has brought an immediate impact on prices for virtual coins.

As of 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, the price for Bitcoin dropped by 5.9 percent; Ethereum by 9.8 percent and Ripple by 9.7 percent compared to 24 hours before the hacking attack, Yonhap said.