Bitcoin Miner NiceHash Reports Hack Of “Tens Of Millions”

NiceHash — a Slovenian-based bitcoin miner — says that it has been the victim of the theft of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin. According to NiceHash, it has stopped mining operations for the next 24 hours as it tries to piece together just how it was hacked and how much bitcoin went missing.

NiceHash has thus far not responded to media questions — early estimates for the count of the hacked bitcoins are around 47,000.

“The incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement, and we are cooperating with them as a matter of urgency,” it said.

The statement also suggested users to change their online passwords.

The trouble was first recognized when the site experienced issues en masse popping up, and with them fraught notes from bitcoin owners asking what was going on.

The price of bitcoin has surged to over $14,100.74, gaining $1,000 in less than a day, so it is clearly an attractive target for thieves.

NiceHash is a cryptocurrency mining application that lends computer power to verify bitcoin users’ transactions.