Up to $732 million stolen
The theft on Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck may be the largest heist in history.
We reported on it earlier but now more details are emerging. Finance Magnates reports a wallet with 101,265,057 XRP worth about $123 million was stolen along with upwards of $600 million of the cryptocurrency NEM.
The latter was the 10th largest crypto but has fallen 13.5% today after news of the theft. Ripple is also down 6.6%.
The exchange has stopped all withdrawals of crypto and fiat.
Ripple has the ability to sequester and fork stole tokens but NEM Foundation Lon Wong says the exchange is responsible and that the technology won't be altered.
"As far as NEM is concerned, tech is intact. We are not forking. Also, we would advise all exchanges to make use of our multi-signature smart contract which is among the best in the landscape," he said.
The broader crypto market is mostly taking it in stride but there is some pressure. Bitcoin is down $342 to $10916.
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