Two Bitcoin exchanges CRASH amid fears of cyber attacks stealing soaring cryptocurrency
TWO major digital currency exchanges have crashed amid warnings of cyber attacks.
Coinbase and Bitfinex experienced technical difficulties yesterday
Cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Bitfinex both suffered outages yesterday with a message reading “service unavailable” warning users of the problems.
Bitfinex reported they were a victim of a cyber attack shutting down its app after a large distributed denial of service attack just last week.
While the Coinbase website claimed it was down due to maintenance in a message on the website.
The outages follow warnings that North Korea is trying to hack cryptocurrency exchanges and use Bitcoin to get past sanctions.
Trading on Bitcoin rivals Litecoin and Ethereum was also suspended as the former reached a new record high.
Litecoin has enjoyed an astronomical rise similar to that of Bitcoin, growing 6,000 per cent in the last year.
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It is a fact that North Korea has been attacking virtual currency exchanges
North Korean hackers have been targeting the successful digital currency in a bid to circumvent the sanctions placed on the despotic regime as the dictatorship continues its nuclear weapons programme.
Lee Dong-geun, a director with South Korea's internet and security agency, said: "It is a fact that North Korea has been attacking virtual currency exchanges.
"We don't know how much North Korea has stolen so far, but we do know that the police have confirmed the regime's hacking attempts."
The news could worry the volatile cryptocurrency market just as Bitcoin has hit yet another record high after smashing through the $17,500 (£13,170) barrier.
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin reached a new high on Tuesday (December 12) when it peaked at a price of $17,531.48 (£13,176.31) according to CoinDesk.
Last month Jordan Hiscott, chief trader at social trading platform ayondo markets, said he believes that bitcoin’s rapid growth model is a sign of shifting paradigms in the world of finance.
Bitcoin has continued to break records most recently smashing through $17,500
He told Express.co.uk: “We are in an age where technology is changing the dynamic of the business world.
“Older, traditional organisations are seeing their long-held dominance challenged by ‘disrupter’ companies.
“For me, it’s no surprise that another disrupter, this time in the form of an asset or currency, is picking up speed.”
He added that if bitcoin’s upward trajectory in the markets continues, traders could expect to see even more record prices in coming weeks.