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Bitcoin Mining Service NiceHash Says Hackers Emptied Its Wallet

52 points by rayuela 9y ago

thisisit 9y ago
I was just wondering, given the record prices - how soon will we hear about a hack? And here we are. Though I wonder why the announcement says: > We are working to verify the precise number of BTC taken. While the article says: > A wallet address circulated by NiceHash users shows that more than $60 million of bitcoins might be affected, according to CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency research and news website.
- modwilliam 9y ago
  There is no official announcement on the BTC taken, but reddit users have been passing around a wallet that suddenly got $60m recently
  - nerdponx 9y ago
    It will be interesting to see if, when, and how they try to move all that crypto-loot. I'd be surprised if BTC/USD didn't start falling in anticipation of increased supply (and hopefully some healthy trepidation regarding the state of Bitcoin security), since Bitcoin is still the main source of liquidity between crypto and fiat.
nikolay 9y ago
When I hear about something like this, I always think: "Insider's Job." Sorry, can't help it!
- TaylorGood 9y ago
  True. Founders risk tolerance may have been such that they looked at current $BTC price and decided this was it. Can anyone guesstimate what they were profiting? Compare that to a $62m payday.
  - micaksica 9y ago
    Reddit says they were making about $500K a day in mining fees.
    - nikolay 9y ago
      What prevents them from keep mining?
      - Operyl 9y ago
        Downtime, lack of trust from users, etc.
- bitxbitxbitcoin 9y ago
  There's nothing wrong with thinking that as a possibility when this comes up!
greenyoda 9y ago
Earlier discussion can be found here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15865613 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15865613
j_s 9y ago
Not sure anything new in this story from the one discussed four hours earlier (70+ comments): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15865613 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15865613 The official press release was on reddit, submitted but with no comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/NiceHash/comments/7i0s6o/official_press_release_statement_by_nicehash/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NiceHash/comments/7i0s6o/official_p... A handful (5) of comments on the earliest related submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15863306 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15863306
snowpanda 9y ago
I don't know too much about bitcoin but am I reading this correctly that they had $60 million in ONE wallet? Wouldn't it be wise to have part of this money in several "offline" wallets or something?
- earenndil 9y ago
  Apparently the reasoning is that this would cut fees on transferring money. Instead of transferring it from wallet to wallet, which would incur fees, they keep it all in one wallet, and change internal numbers.
SilverSlash 9y ago
I'm not very familiar with how crypto currencies work but when such an incident happens, how hopeful can the company be that they will get their BTC's back?
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
  Transactions are irreversible. That's basically the entire point. They'll only get the coins back if the thieves are caught, haven't spent them, and give them up.

52 points by rayuela 9y ago

I was just wondering, given the record prices - how soon will we hear about a hack? And here we are. Though I wonder why the announcement says: > We are working to verify the precise number of BTC taken. While the article says: > A wallet address circulated by NiceHash users shows that more than $60 million of bitcoins might be affected, according to CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency research and news website.

modwilliam 9y ago
There is no official announcement on the BTC taken, but reddit users have been passing around a wallet that suddenly got $60m recently
- nerdponx 9y ago
  It will be interesting to see if, when, and how they try to move all that crypto-loot. I'd be surprised if BTC/USD didn't start falling in anticipation of increased supply (and hopefully some healthy trepidation regarding the state of Bitcoin security), since Bitcoin is still the main source of liquidity between crypto and fiat.

nikolay 9y ago

When I hear about something like this, I always think: "Insider's Job." Sorry, can't help it!

TaylorGood 9y ago
True. Founders risk tolerance may have been such that they looked at current $BTC price and decided this was it. Can anyone guesstimate what they were profiting? Compare that to a $62m payday.
- micaksica 9y ago
  Reddit says they were making about $500K a day in mining fees.
  - nikolay 9y ago
    What prevents them from keep mining?
    - Operyl 9y ago
      Downtime, lack of trust from users, etc.
bitxbitxbitcoin 9y ago
There's nothing wrong with thinking that as a possibility when this comes up!

greenyoda 9y ago

Earlier discussion can be found here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15865613 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15865613

j_s 9y ago

Not sure anything new in this story from the one discussed four hours earlier (70+ comments): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15865613 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15865613 The official press release was on reddit, submitted but with no comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/NiceHash/comments/7i0s6o/official_press_release_statement_by_nicehash/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NiceHash/comments/7i0s6o/official_p... A handful (5) of comments on the earliest related submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15863306 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15863306

snowpanda 9y ago

I don't know too much about bitcoin but am I reading this correctly that they had $60 million in ONE wallet? Wouldn't it be wise to have part of this money in several "offline" wallets or something?

earenndil 9y ago
Apparently the reasoning is that this would cut fees on transferring money. Instead of transferring it from wallet to wallet, which would incur fees, they keep it all in one wallet, and change internal numbers.

SilverSlash 9y ago

I'm not very familiar with how crypto currencies work but when such an incident happens, how hopeful can the company be that they will get their BTC's back?

SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
Transactions are irreversible. That's basically the entire point. They'll only get the coins back if the thieves are caught, haven't spent them, and give them up.