Chaos and Hackers Stalk Investors on Cryptocurrency Exchanges
September 29th, 2017Cryptocurrency exchanges have always been a nightmare. I’ve never left any Bitcoins or cash in an exchange for any longer than it took to trade them. Then I’d immediately pull my money out. I always try to keep my overnight balance as close to zero as possible on Bitcoin exchanges.
I just assume the thing is going to be hacked or seized by some government any minute.
Via: Reuters:
Some of the freewheeling exchanges are plagued with poor security and lack investor protections common in more regulated financial markets, Reuters found. Some Chinese exchanges have falsely inflated their trading volume to lure new customers, according to former employees.
There have been at least three dozen heists of cryptocurrency exchanges since 2011; many of the hacked exchanges later shut down. More than 980,000 bitcoins have been stolen, which today would be worth about $4 billion. Few have been recovered. Burned investors have been left at the mercy of exchanges as to whether they will receive any compensation.