Japan CryptoCurrency Heist: Hackers stole over $100 million

The leading Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Liquid, has been robbed by hackers, with almost $100m (£ 73m) estimated to be stolen. The company declared that a few of its digital currency portfolios and documents were compromised.

"I'm sorry to hear that #LiquidGlobal's hot wallets are being compromised; we're moving assets into the cold wallet," the company said on Twitter.

So-called 'hot' or 'hot' digital wallets are mostly online based and designed to make it easier for users to access their cryptocurrencies, while 'cold' wallets are offline and more easily accessible and therefore usually more secure.

Founded in 2014, Liquid works in over 100 nations and assists millions of clients across the globe.

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic stated its analysis showed that about $97 million was taken in cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin and Ethereum tokens under the line.

According to CoinMarketCap data, Liquid is in worldwide top 20 largest cryptocurrency exchanges by daily trading volume. Liquid said it is tracking the movement of stolen cryptocurrencies and operating with other exchanges to freeze and recover assets.

The Japan cryptocurrency heist is the second massive theft that has taken place in digital currency in just a few days. Last week, another platform named Poly Network faced a $ 600m heist. It occurred because a hacker utilised a vulnerability in the system.

"The amount of money you have hacked is one of the largest in defi [decentralised finance] history," Poly Network declared

The liquid is not the only Japanese cryptocurrency platform that is hit by a big heist. In 2014, Tokyo-based exchange MtGox collapsed after nearly half a billion dollars of Bitcoin disappeared while Coincheck was hacked in a $ 530m heists in 2018.

Cryptocurrencies or digital currencies are becoming very popular across the world; millions of people invested billions of dollars in e-currencies. While the currencies are digital, these are highly likely at the risk of being stolen by mastermind hackers.