Indian exchange Coinsecure has announced its plan to repay customers for stolen bitcoins as well as a 10 percent bounty to anyone who helps recover them. The exchange claims it was an inside job, and suspects its chief security officer of playing a role in siphoning off the money.
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A 10 Percent Bounty
Coinsecure has announced a bounty of approximately 20 million rupees, worth approximately US$306,722 at press time, “to anyone who helps them recover the lost bitcoins,” the Economic Times reported on Saturday.
The exchange confirmed that it lost 438.31859715 BTC on April 8, worth approximately Rs 20 crore or US$3,067,220. The coins were stolen from an offline wallet holding users’ funds, the news outlet detailed. While the exchange has about 2 million users, “Some 11,000 customers are said to be affected by the reported theft which is the biggest cryptocurrency theft in India,” the publication added. The exchange subsequently halted all deposits and withdrawals.
A statement was issued by the company on Friday, clarifying:
We are also seeking help from the Bitcoin community and all our users who can help us identify the hacker or give us any information that could lead us to recover funds…We are happy to issue a bounty of 10% to the community for help rendered for [the] recovery of BTC.
Where Did the Coins Go?
Coinsecure revealed that the address where stolen bitcoins were transferred to is 1BaEJquitskdXcTj53Uy6PuUtJ5a8ETWpA. At the time of this writing, there have been 973 transactions through this address and the final balance is 139.42094629 BTC.
The stolen coins were “transferred to the hacker’s wallet over a span of two days in small tranches” and then
