Hacked Korean Crypto Exchange Coinrail Under Police Investigation

The crypto market has lost billions since yesterday when the South Korean crypto exchange Coinrail got hacked and lost about $40 millions in altcoins. Now, the police have started an investigation and looking for the cause behind the crypto loss.  

South Korean police probing into hacked crypto exchange

According to the local media source, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail that lost approximately $40 million in altcoins in a hack is being probed by the police.

The South Korean police started the investigation on Monday after the cryptocurrency exchange of the country was reportedly hacked over the weekend.

A police spokesperson stated:

“We secured the access history of Coinrail servers and we are in the process of analyzing them.”

The police would be further looking into the cause of the attack, “whether the leakage of the cryptocurrencies are caused by hacking or computer network problems.”

The cryptocurrency market is dripping red as cryptocurrencies are losing their value at a fast pace. The overall market cap has fallen down below the $300 billion range.

Bitcoin (BTC) is coming close to testing its $6,500 price value as it drops down 7.11 percent at $6,782. The plunge has been the lowest since mid-April. Ethereum (ETH) has fallen down to $533 level while Ripple (XRP) is at $0.58.

EOS and Tron (TRX) has taken a severe plunge of about 15 and 12 percent respectively. Tron was also one of the cryptocurrencies that were attacked. The entire crypto market has lost approximately 28 billion in the last 24-hours.

Also, read: US Regulator Subpoenas Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp & ItBit in Bitcoin Manipulation Probe

Will this lead to more strict regulations in South Korea?

Reportedly, the company has asked for technical support form the state-run Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA).

A spokesperson of KISA has been quoted as saying:

“We began the investigation immediately after receiving reports from the company. It may take around a month to accurately figure out the causes.”

On Sunday, Coinrail released a statement on its website stating,

“70 percent of total coin and token reserves have been confirmed to be safely stored and moved to a cold wallet.”

The statement further clarified,

“Two-thirds of stolen cryptocurrencies were withdrawn or frozen in partnership with related exchanges and coin companies. For the rest, we are investigating into it with an investigative agency, related exchanges and coin developers.”

As per the local crypto exchanges, Pundi X (NPXS) and Nper (NPER) are the frozen tokens.

This isn’t the first time that South Korea is witnessing a crypto exchange hack. Last year, Youbit, another Korean exchange lost 20 billion won worth of bitcoins to cyberthieves twice.

Crypto market has always been ridden with hacks and thefts which is also one of the reasons regulators have been strict towards it. In late January, Japan’s crypto exchange Coincheck was hacked resulting in the loss of about $500 million. This led the country’s regulators to tighten the regulations on cryptocurrencies.

Now, with the loss of $40 million in altcoins, there is a possibility the South Korean regulators will try to enforce more security measures in order to protect the investors’ interest.

Do you think South Korea might be in for more strict regulations in the wake of this hack? Share your thoughts with us!