NiceHash, one of the major bitcoin mining pools, reported a security breach resulting in hackers stealing a yet unestablished quantity of bitcoins. According to users, 4,736.42 BTC – an amount worth more than $73 million at current prices – has been stolen. NiceHash also said it has reported the case to the authorities and is conducting internal investigation. It is not entirely clear yet what happened, but apparently the hackers have found a security vulnerability and have exploited it.
Can someone tell me what are the advantages (if any) to leaving your crypto online as opposed to a wallet in your safe deposit box/home safe? (Assuming you are in it for the long haul, as a store of wealth) Thanks
One advantage is you can sell v quickly. Bitcoins on a hard wallet might take some time to transfer to the exchange if u wanted to sell.
Better backup and retention policies, hopefully. Truth is though, no computer system are safe from breaches, so any secret keys can be obtain by resourceful adversaries. The more value, the more incentive to steal.
As an alternative version, no hacking occurred but the mining pool pulled an exit scam. Nowadays no exchange should be hacked...
To the end user it really makes no difference. Relying on keeping secrets is a fundamentally flawed business model. Information tend to become freed.
Yes and no. One is a technical issue and by now, no brokerage or wallet should be hacked. The other is a moral issue, just how much can you trust your unregulated online broker... So it comes down: do you trust the technology AND do you trust the decentralized nature? If hacking still occurs due to new types of access or tricks (I doubt), then cryptos are still not ready for the general population.
The technical issue is that no computer system is secure. Not a single usable machine. The more usability and utility, security trend towards worse and worse. So it comes down to: How gullible or downright stupid are non-technical people? The incentives for keeping secrets online are perverse, and distributed blockchain technology doesn't really adress the fundamental weaknesses in information security as a concept. There's no 100% security, nowhere or at any time, and can be indirectly found as a depressing function of usage, usability and utility. The only reason it's not too big a problem already is that we haven't yet made it worth the effort to crack all security measures. Trust is lack of security, especially for something as fundamental as a distributed blockchain (ledger). If all that is required is to copy some bits and bytes in order to"steal", then securing against that will be a lost cause. Doesn't mean people won't trust it, just that it's a misguided trust that can blow up in your face and rip it off, at any time with no recourse. This reminds me of DRM and the copyright industry: see how well they fare along the same ideas of restricting information flow. In the longer run it's a losing battle. Not a short-term prediction though. LOL! This is all Bullish, ofc.
Nice hash isn't an exchange, they make their money buying/selling a resource. Im actually surprised so much Bitcoin was being held actually, unless that the period moving volume