Bitcoin and the other cryptos had a good day yesterday as $12 billion was added overnight to market. To give you an idea, Bitcoin already lost more than half its value from the start of 2018. Unfortunately, by looking at the trends lately, it seems that it could take a long time before Bitcoin recovers fully. Just when things looked bright yesterday, another cryptocurrency exchange has been hacked.
Bithumb temporarily suspended both deposit and withdrawal services after it announced that around $30 million-worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from the company.
In reaction to the hack, the Seoul-based crypto exchange announced on Twitter that the stolen coins will be covered by Bithumb’s own funds. And also, the users’ assets will be transferred to a cold storage. However, the company didn’t say anything about any timeline when the services can be resumed. Bitcoin price from $6,700 range slumped towards $6,500 range. This was following the tweets from Bithumb. As for Ethereum, its price fell from almost $535 to as low as $521.
Unfortunately, the crypto market has been plagued by hacks. And these things usually result in a drop in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Another South Korean exchange, Coinrail has been hacked in recent weeks as well. With Coinrail, Pundi X, which is a lesser known cryptocurrency has been affected.
According to observers, it was Coinrail that affected the price of Bitcoin that it ended up hitting a two-month low. However, considering the relatively small size of Coinrail, this proves to be inconclusive.
Bithumb is one of the largest crypto exchange in South Korea. It has recorded over $300 million trading volume in 24 hours. In fact, it is currently the sixth largest exchange in the world today according to CoinMarketCap.
Japan has been known for its open-minded approach when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Japan took the brave step to self-regulate after the Coincheck hacking incident that lost around $530 million-worth of NEM. Japan’s Virtual Currency Exchange Association has plans to improve on their rules and regulations even dropping coins that offer anonymity to its users. Among the coins that have been removed include Monero and Zcash.
Coin exchanges reacted differently with this move to avoid hacking incidences. With stricter rules and regulations on crypto exchanges, there are the likes of Kraken that opted to simply stop its services in Japan and head elsewhere. On the other hand, you have the likes of Coinbase that is now currently working with Japanese regulators. Coinbase is also said to be working with US Securities and Exchange Commission in order to get the necessary license that could make their business operate smoothly in the US as well.
There are many hacking incidences in the crypto market. And most likely, it signals a bearish trend following investors panicking and even selling their coins. As for South Korea, this is the second incident in less than two weeks. Could this be a good time to follow Japan’s footsteps in terms of regulating the crypto market? Could this send Bitcoin below $6,000? These are all plausible scenarios that we could anticipate in the coming days.
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