Topic: [2017-12-19] Korean Bitcoin Exchange Youbit Files for Bankruptcy (Read 135 times)

Same here. It seems that mimicking Yobit isn't really the best thing to do....

All jokes aside, I have seen these things coming for quite a while now. South Korea has been growing in a rapid phase, where one could say that it may even be too fast. If you have to adapt to an insane surge in growth, because you don't want to miss out as service, you'll likely rush everything just to be able to offer people a platform to trade on. It can be seen as growing pains, but in this case with severe consequences. Of course, that's assuming they have really been hacked. Nowadays it's impossible to trust on these words since it's too easy to blame hackers for the theft, while in reality it was an inside job.

It will continue to happen as long as exchanges keep storing a good portion of their funds in hot wallets to provide fast withdrawals for their users. It's impossible to avoid this because if an exchange stores all its coins offline, people will complain about slow withdrawals. People want quick withdrawals, and exchanges that can't get hacked, which is a nonexistent combination.

I worry more about Bitfinex and their heavy involvement into something so utterly shady as Tether. I am almost certain that this exchange with its Tether garbage will implode at some point, which will likely negatively impact the market for a while. This exchange should never have been granted a second chance, but it got one due to the general stupidity of people.

At least they weren't dumb like the owners of Nicehash and had most of the coins safely stored offline. They also went public with it instead of hiding and trying to recuperate losses like Karpeles did. 17% isn't a huge deal, if I were the owner I'd try to look for investors and partners, maybe sell some of the brand to compensate the losses and keep the company afloat, but maybe they are afraid the same vulnerability could be used again and prefer to end it while they can.
P.S. at first i thought it was about Yobit... similar names. 

Even years after the collapse of Mt Gox, exchanges continue to get hacked. The best way to deal with exchanges is not to store your coins on them. For frequent traders, this could be an issue because of the high withdrawal fees. If a bit exchange (similar to gox) collapses, we could enter another period of falling prices.

A South Korean bitcoin exchange is moving to declare bankruptcy following what it said was a debilitating hack and theft.

A message on Youbit's official website posted today states that, at around 4:34 a.m. local time, an external hack resulted in the loss of "about 17% of total assets."

The cyber attack is the second for Youbit, previously known Yapizon. The exchange was previously targeted in April in an attack which South Korean officials believe was conducted with the support of neighboring North Korea. Recent reports indicate that intelligence services in South Korea suspect that North Korea is behind additional attacks against domestic cryptocurrency exchanges, including market-leader Bithumb.

As a result of today's attack, Youbit said that it has halted deposits and withdrawals. According to Reuters, investigators have begun looking into the situation.

And while the company suggested that users may not see the full return of their funds, the statement indicated that Youbit would be disbursing the cryptocurrency it still has in its possession.

"Due to bankruptcy, the settlement of cash and coins will be carried out in accordance with all bankruptcy procedures," the exchange said in a translated statement. "However, in order to minimize the damage to our members, we will arrange for the withdrawal of approximately 75% of the balance at 4:00 am on December 19, The rest of the unpaid portion will be paid after the final settlement is completed."

The moves are being taken despite what Youbit characterized as a less severe intrusion compared to the one in April. The company also suggested that it would seek to pare losses by tapping insurance funds and selling a stake in the exchange.

"We will do our best to minimize the loss of our members by 17% , through various methods such as cyber comprehensive insurance (3 billion [won]) and selling the operating rights of the company," the company wrote.

source: https://www.coindesk.com/south-korean-bitcoin-exchange-declare-bankruptcy-hack/

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH YOBIT. Different exchange.