NEW DELHI: Coinsecure, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, said nearly $3million were stolen from its bitcoin wallet, the biggest reported so far inthe country’s fledgling virtual currency market.
The theft is expected to further weaken trade in cryptocurrencies, whichthe government has likened to “Ponzi schemes” that offer unusually highreturns to early investors.
Coinsecure, which has over 200,000 users trading on its platform daily,said that around 438 bitcoins, which were stored in a password-protectedvirtual wallet were siphoned off to an unknown destination on the internetafter the details were leaked online.
“We regret to inform you that our bitcoin funds have been exposed and seemto have been siphoned out to an address that is outside our control,” thecompany said in a statement posted on its website.
Legal experts said there was a need to regulate the virtual currencymarket, instead of imposing restrictions on its trade.
“It is for reasons like these that there is a need to regulatecrypto-exchanges,” said Anirudh Rastogi, founder and managing partner atTRA Law, a firm that specialises in emerging-technology businesses.Agencies