The cryptocurrency market cap tumbled by $42 billion over the weekend, partly helped by the news of another exchange, Coinrail in South Korea, being hacked.
The cryptocurrency rollercoaster ride continued over the weekend. 2018 has seen the total cryptocurrency market cap drop by over 50 percent from its all-time high back in late 2017. Bitcoin and other virtual currencies took another tumble this weekend, and a few analysts are pointing to the hack of Coinrail, an exchange in South Korea, as one of the causes.
Another Week, Another Hack
There has been some notable hacks in recent memory. The most notable is the attack on Coincheck in Japan, which saw the loss of about $530 million in cryptocurrency. The hack on Coinrail is much smaller, but the effect has been noticeable.
Stephen Innes, head of Asia Pacific trading at Oanda Corp. in Singapore, told Bloomberg:
This is ‘If it can happen to A, it can happen to B and it can happen to C,’ then people panic because someone is selling.
Innes added that the cryptocurrency tumble could have also been caused by low market liquidity, saying:
The markets are so thinly traded, primarily by retail accounts, that these guys can get really scared out of positions. It actually doesn’t take a lot of money to move the market significantly.
Not a Lot of Details About Coinrail Hack
As for Coinrail, there isn’t a lot of details forthcoming about the hack. The exact amount of cryptocurrency stolen has not been revealed. The exchange notes that 70 percent of all their tokens are safe as they’re being stored in a cold wallet.
The stolen crypto includes Fundus X (NPXS), Aston (ATX), and Enper (NPER). The exchange states in a notice:
About 80% of coins that have been confirmed to be leaked have been frozen / withdrawn / redeemed or equivalent, in consultation with their co-workers and related exchanges, while the remainder are under investigation with investigators, related exchanges and coin developers.
The South Korean exchange also asks for some patience, adding:
The exact damage of the leaked coin / token is currently being confirmed, which may require some time to be taken with the coin. Also, please understand that all related matters are difficult to share all progress to exclude all possibilities that may interfere with the investigation due to investigation by police agencies.
As of now, the total market cap for cryptocurrency stands at $294,709,000,000. This marks a decline from around $345 billion last Friday.
Do you think the exchange hack had a significant contribution to the market tumble for virtual currencies or are there more factors involved? Let us know in the comments below.
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