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| Seen above is crypto exchange Coinrail's webpage. The Korean virtual coin exchange said over 40 billion won in coins were stolen after it was hacked over the weekend. / Courtesy of Coinrail |
By Jhoo Dong-chan
The nation's seventh-largest cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail was allegedly hacked over the weekend, and an estimated 40 billion won ($37.2 million) worth of coins were stolen.
Coinrail said on its webpage, Monday, there was a "cyber intrusion" in its system around 1:00 a.m. Sunday, and the exchange was now undergoing a system check.
"Coinrail has suffered a loss about 30 percent of virtual coins traded on the exchange," the firm said in a statement on its webpage.
"We have managed to freeze all exposed cryptocurrencies _ Pundi X, Aston and NPER. These coins are now being kept in a cold wallet."
Police said they have launched an investigation into the alleged hacking of the exchange.
"Investigators visited the exchange yesterday to ascertain whether it was an accident or a crime," the National Police Agency Cyber Bureau said Monday.
Coinrail said it will fully cooperate with the investigation into the hacking while temporary suspending trading on the exchange.
Trading over 50 different coins, Coinrail is the 98th largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world with a daily trading volume of $2.65 million based on data from the world's largest virtual coin price index CoinMarketCap.com.
Following the incident, the world's largest cryptocurrency bitcoin was traded at around 7.5 million won per coin Monday, down over 10 percent from the previous day.
The second-largest Ethereum was traded at 597,500 won per coin as of 9:00 a.m. Monday, down 11.66 percent from the previous day. Prices of other major coins Eos, Tron and New Economy Movement were down nearly 20 percent.
"The news is really discouraging," said an industry insider.
"Blockchain technologies are an important pillar of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and a number of blockchain platform firms are preparing initial coin offerings. The incident will deal a heavy blow to their efforts."
The hacking attack on Coinrail comes after Japan's cyrptocurrency exchange Coincheck was hacked earlier this year in a high-profile theft of its virtual coins.
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