NiceHash, a Slovenian cryptocurrency mining marketplace, has said it lost about $64 million worth of Bitcoin in a hack of its payment system.
“Unfortunately, there has been a security breach involving NiceHash website. We are currently investigating the nature of the incident and, as a result, we are stopping all operations for the next 24 hours,” a statement read on NiceHash website.
NiceHash executive Andrej P. Skraba in a statement said his firm was the victim of “a highly professional” heist that yielded about 4,700 Bitcoin, worth around $64 million.
Meanwhile, the firm says it is working to verify the precise number of BTC taken.
“Importantly, our payment system was compromised and the contents of the NiceHash Bitcoin wallet have been stolen. We are working to verify the precise number of BTC taken,” the firm said.
NiceHash matches people looking to sell processing time on computers in exchange for bitcoin.
While it was unclear whether customers faced any losses from the hack, the firm has advised users changed their online passwords.
“While the full scope of what happened is not yet known, we recommend, as a precaution, that you change your online passwords,” it said.
TheNewsGuru reports this is the latest incident to highlight risks that uneven oversight and security pose to booming digital currencies.