CoinEX.pw has confirmed it recently suffered a hack resulting in the theft of all the bitcoins in its possession.
The digital currency exchange has assured customers that it is going to cover the losses out of its own pocket, although it didn’t confirm the total number of bitcoins lost.
In a post on the Bitcoin Talk forum, a CoinEX.pw representative under the username ‘erundook’ said:
“Long story short: yes, our wallet server got hacked and all funds were withdrawn.”
He also asked users to keep calm and asserted the company’s operators are not “doing a runner”.
Erundook (real name Vitaly A. Sorokin) mentioned that the company has suffered similar problems in the past and, in those instances, it covered the losses.
Of the recent hack, the company spokesperson said: “The only way I can see to restore this is to sell more shares at cryptostocks to cover the losses *and to hire a professional security audit team to prevent this from happening again*. Long story short, we’re covering this from our own pockets again.”
On 16th March, CoinEX.pw indicated on Twitter that it was facing problems.
Security issue, investigating
— CoinEX.pw (@CoinexPW) March 16, 2014
However, the company did not issue any further updates until yesterday evening.
Concerned customers noted that the exchange’s co-founder (erundook) had deleted his personal Twitter profile and his Gist page on Github, which detailed CoinEX.pw’s API documentation.
Erundook suggested he did so because he was scared of the response he would get from users. The response from those on Bitcoin Talk has been largely positive, thanking erundook for the update, but criticising him for taking so long to deliver it.
Some have not been so understanding, though. Forum member Albinito said:
“I really wonder whats wrong with some people. Imagine running a jewelry store or money exchange without insurance, beeing robbed several times, waiting for the final blow before thinking about security. There are no words to describe this way of working.
It is quite obvious that you are not capable of running a business like this. No one should support this and give the owner new confidence over and over. This wont work.”
Bitcoin image via Shutterstock.