Cryptographic currency trading platform Bancor yesterday reported that a break-in had taken place on Monday at the digital wallet used by the company to update its system. Bancor said that crypto tokens worth $23.5 million had been stolen in the break-in.
Bancor said that 25,000 Etherium tokens worth $12.5 million, 3.2 million BNT tokens worth $10 million, and 229 million NPXS tokens worth $1 million has been stolen.
Bancor was founded in 2016 by four Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs: CEO Guy Benartzi, business development manager Galia Benartzi (Guy's sister), product architect Eyal Hertzog, and CTO Yudi Levi. Bancor developed a platform for converting cryptocurrencies that enables their owners to trade or convert them quickly without any intermediary. The company says that it created a network of liquidity for digital currencies. Bancor currently operates with 60 employees from offices in the Amot Atrium Tower in Ramat Gan.
Bancor stated, "A digital wallet used to update several smart contracts in the Bancor network was breached. The breached wallet was later used to steal 24,984 Etherium tokens, 229.3 million NPXS tokens, and 3.2 million BNT tokens." The company emphasized that "no user wallets were compromised."
"We were able to freeze the stolen BNT, limiting the damage to the Bancor ecosystem from the theft," Bancor said.
Blockchain startup Bancor made headlines in June 2017 when it raised $153 million in an initial coin offering (ICO), one of the largest ICOs last year. Bancor's BNT crypto tokens are traded today at $2.65, reflecting a market value of $135 million for them, according to figures on the CoinMarketCap website.
The CoinTelegraph website yesterday reported that the hackers who broke into Bancor had traded some of the stolen crypto tokens through the Changelly instant messaging service. Changelly CEO Konstantin Gladych confirmed the particulars, adding, "Bancor later froze all of the tokens. We are now helping to track the stolen holdings."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 10, 2018
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