You are forgiven. You have forgiveness. We, forgive, you. It is absolutely fine if you don’t understand what the hell a bitcoin is - you’re not alone, we’re not really sure we do either. Still, not understanding something is not a hefty enough deterrent to stop people getting involved, and as such, people all over the planet are dipping their toes into the murky Cryptocurrency River.
But hey, it’s not looking good at the moment if you’re on the bitcoin train, because a recent hack has meant that the price has dropped rather significantly. “Noooooooo!!” you scream into the air, hand clasped around some imaginary bitcoin, “I’ve lost so much of a thing that I don’t think I even had in the first place!!”
Basically, the price of Bitcoin plummeted more than 7% after South Korea’s Coinrail exchange was hit by naughty cybertheives, who managed to “take off” with around 30% of its cryptocurrencies. They targeted less well-known digital currencies, so Bitcoin was not actually immediately affected, but the theft has had a knock-on effect on it since.
Other large and commonly traded cryptos like ethereum also dropped - a good $30 billion in cryptocurrency wealth was obliterated in about seven hours of trading - that’s a pretty big shockwave, mate. After the attack, Bitcoin was trading at approximately $6,750, which is its lowest in about two months - half the price that it was at the start of the year. NAT good.
Fun isn’t it? It’s a bit-coin. A BIT COIN.
We asked an expert for their take on the current situation.
Blockbid COO David Sapper, told us:
“The recent Coinrail hack shows that the fast-paced, evolving world of cryptocurrency is continuing to hold strong appeal to fraudsters and hackers, which in turns grows the level of risk for the market.
“With little regulation in place across exchanges and cryptocurrency trading, unauthorised access from external parties on core systems and customer accounts are a potential threat. The more popular an exchange becomes, the harder the platform must perform, thus leaving any potential holes in security open for interception.
“However hacks on exchanges aren’t a new thing and prices of cryptos will recover as they have done so before.
“Bitcoin is already up $200 which is positive, seeing as the hack only took place a couple of days ago. The hack will definitely increase talk within the community for greater security protocols and more regulation within the cryptocurrency sphere which will also affect the price of coins in the short term but again, prices will recover.
“Introducing new regulation has to be executed efficiently, through a comprehensive understanding of the digital landscape. Without this understanding, exchanges and traders are left vulnerable.”
It’s still a minefield out there, dudes, so just make sure you put in a proper stint of research before you start buying invisible coins off an internet wizard.
(Images: Getty)
