Coinrail Reports a $40m Heist – So just how secure are cryptocurrency exchanges against cyber theft?

Colleagues, the recent Coinrail loss of some $40m is just the latest in a steady stream of cybercrime attacks against cryptocurrency exchanges. Coincheck lost an approximately $400m earlier this year, last November saw Tether claim it lose $31 million following an attack. Mt. Gox hacking in 2014 is the mother of all crypto attacks. In total the exchange lost around 744,408 BTC. That was worth around $350m in 2014.  While Coinrail is by no means a tier 1 exchange this cyber heist raises serious questions about the security of cryptocurrencies in general, and second the exchanges on which they are traded. There is no silver bullet mitigation strategy, however, the Cryptocurrency Academy would a couple of best practices for minimizing the risk to your crypto investments: Currencies, exchanges and wallets. First, the top-tier currencies such as BTC, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, etc. generally have more security on-board. Second, the larger and more established exchanges are likely to be built on more secure platforms with cyber security professionals on staff. And third, although opinions surely vary, hardware wallet such as the industry-leading Nano Ledger S are believed to offer more security … especially when compared to cloud-based wallets. Send us a comment and subscribe today! Lawrence, Cryptocurrency Academy (https://cryptocurrencyacademy.blogspot.com)