Coinsecure Crypto Exchange Loses $3.5 Million, Blames Security Chief
The Coinsecure crypto exchange has lost more than $3.5 million and is blaming it on an inside job, orchestrated by the Cheif Security Officer (CSO).
The Coinsecure crypto exchange is India’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) exchange. The exchange posted on its website Thursday that CSO Amitabh Saxena was in the process of extracting Bitcoin Gold (BTG) so that the cryptocurrency could be distributed among Coinsecure’s customers. However, Coinsecure claims that the funds have now been lost.
On the Coinsecure website, the crypto exchange explains what happened in greater detail: “our Bitcoin funds have been exposed and seem to have been siphoned out to an address that is outside our control.”
The letter goes on to ensure that the Coinsecure crypto exchange system is neither compromised nor hacked and that they have contacted the authorities. Investigations are underway and work is being done “round the clock to restore services and to try and recover all of the lost funds.”
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The document sent to the authorities states that 438.318 Bitcoins were stolen from the exchange’s Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, which equates to approximately $3.5 million USD (or around INR 19 Crores).
The exchange believes that because the private keys are kept with CSO Amitabh Saxena, the story he is telling doesn’t ring true. Because having access to the private keys allows you to move money, Saxena could easily have moved the funds out and Coinsecure, therefore, believes “that he is making a false story to divert [its] attention.”
The Coinsecure crypto exchange loss marks another on the tally of troubles for crypto exchanges. In January, Coincheck lost over $500 million worth of NEM (XEM), and Binance, too, has had its share of troubles.
In India, most recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restricted customers from conducting cryptocurrency purchases through their banks.
https://cryptocurrencynews.com/daily-news/exchanges/coinsecure-crypto-exchange/
It’s strange, but the news of 3.5 million Btc being stolen from an exchange would usually have sent the price of Bitcoin down.