Bitcoin exchange YouBit to shut down after second major hack within a year

The South Korean BitCoin Exchange YouBit has now filed for bankruptcy after being hacked for the second time this year. At this time, the company has confirmed that 17% of its assets were stolen, though at this time the value of the stolen cryptocurrency is unknown. 

Back in April, YouBit lost 4,000 bitcoins to hackers. KISA, South Korea’s Internet Security Agency, investigated this hack and concluded that the attack on YouBit, then known as Yapizon, was perpetrated by cyber hackers from North Korea. At this time it is unknown who is behind this new hack.

YouBit has stated that the remainder of the company’s assets have remained untouched, saying that these funds are kept in a “cold wallet” to ensure that the majority of the exchange’s resources were not vulnerable to hackers. 

This hack comes less than two weeks after the cryptocurrency mining marketplace NiceHash was hacked, resulting in the theft of over $70 million worth of Bitcoin from the service. 

In a statement, YouBit has stated that the company will file for Bankruptcy on December 19th and plans to give back 75% of the value of the crypto-currency users stored within the exchange. YouBit is one of South Korea’s smaller Bitcoin exchanges, with Bithumb holding 70% market share within the region. 

YouBit stated that unpaid portions of users deposits would be given to users after the company has tapped into insurance funds and selling the operating rights of the company.