Bitcoin (BTC) Nosedives Amid South Korea Exchange Heist
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that USA investigators were demanding several bitcoin exchanges hand over trading data as part of a probe into potential manipulation of futures markets.
The cryptocurrency markets tumbled sharply following the news, with Bitcoin dropping from $7,240 to $6,752 in less than two hours, with the current price being $6,794. NY time on Friday and was trading at $6,781.19 as of 11:43 a.m.in Hong Kong on Monday, bringing its year-to-date loss to 53 percent.
Even with the recent sharp slip, bitcoin has gained more than 130 percent in value since June 11 of 2017.
The price of bitcoin hit a two-month low over the weekend - and social media is alight with speculation about it.
"The markets are so thinly traded, primarily by retail accounts, that these guys can get really scared out of positions", he said.
The intrusion follows the hacking attack on the Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck in January in which hackers stole $500m worth of digital assets, making it one of the biggest robberies in history. Coinrail confirmed that the remaining 70% had been safely moved to a cold wallet and remain unharmed.
The latest declines came after a small exchange called Coinrail said Sunday several so-called alt coins - alternative versions of bitcoin - appeared to have been stolen in the attack.
A tweet from Coinrail - a relatively small South Korean cryptocurrency exchange - confirmed the cyber-attack, The report nearly immdiately sent the price of bitcoin tumbling 10%, to two-month lows.
The largest cryptocurrency declined to US$6,840 as of 4pm in NY, the biggest drop since March 14, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from Bitstamp pricing.
The Korean National Police Agency didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
Some Asia-listed stocks with exposure to digital currencies fell on Monday.
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