Distributed Networks Institute
BITPoint hacked - $28 million stolen
Summary
In July 2019, BITPoint, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a security breach in which hackers gained unauthorized access to the exchange’s hot wallets, resulting in the theft of approximately $28 million worth of cryptocurrency. The attack was attributed to the theft of private keys associated with the hot wallets.
Attackers
The identity of the hackers who attacked BITPoint in July 2019 is not publicly known. Bitpoint has not released any information regarding the perpetrators of the attack, and it is unclear whether any suspects have been identified or apprehended by law enforcement authorities.
Losses
The total amount of losses from the BITPoint hack was approximately $28 million dollars worth of cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple.
Timeline
- July 11, 2019: BITPoint detects an error in the balances of its hot wallets and suspends all trading on its platform.
- July 12, 2019: BITPoint announces that it has lost approximately $32 million worth of customer funds in a security breach.
- July 17, 2019: BITPoint is revealing that the total amount lost was less than expected, as the total amount appears to be about $28 million. And announced that they would be reimbursing users who lost their funds.
- August 6, 2019: BITPoint re-opened trading services on after a successful safety assessment of the platform’s wallet.
Security Failure Causes
- Weak operational security practices: The exchange failed to establish security safeguards to prevent the theft of hot wallet keys. The excahnge operators operators were among those ordered by Japan’s Financial Services Agency to improve internal controls following the 2018 attack on Coincheck.