NiceHash said Thursday that it had stopped operations for 24 hours and was working to verify how many bitcoins were taken.
TOKYO – The Slovenian-based bitcoin miner NiceHash says it is investigating a security breach and the possible theft of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoins, as meanwhile the value of the virtual currency has soared to a new record high.
NiceHash said Thursday in a statement posted on its website that it had stopped operations for 24 hours and was working to verify how many bitcoins were taken.
There was no immediate response from NiceHash to an emailed request for more details. Unconfirmed reports said more than 4,000 bitcoins were missing valued at more than $60 million.
“The incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are cooperating with them as a matter of urgency,” it said.
The statement urged users to change their online passwords.
Troubles with the website over the past day or so drew alarm and complaints, with many bitcoin owners posting panicked comments on NiceHash’s social media accounts.
The price of bitcoin has surged to over $14,100.74, gaining $1,000 in less than a day, according to coindesk, a website that monitors the price. That compares with a value below $1,000 at the beginning of the year.
Bitcoin is the world’s most popular digital currency. Such currencies are not tied to a bank or government and allow users to spend money anonymously. They are basically lines of computer code that are digitally signed each time they are traded. Miners of bitcoins and other virtual currencies help keep the systems honest by putting computer power into a blockchain, a global running tally of every transaction that prevents cheaters from spending the same digital coin twice.
NiceHash is a cryptocurrency mining application that lends computer power to verify bitcoin users’ transactions.
Online security is a vital concern for such dealings.
In Japan, following the failure of a bitcoin exchange called Mt. Gox, new laws were enacted to regulate bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Mt. Gox shut down in February 2014, saying it lost about 850,000 bitcoins, possibly to hackers.

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France’s President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in Qatar for a one-day trip to the small Gulf country as it faces a boycott by some of its Arab neighbours.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in Qatar for a one-day trip to the small Gulf country as it faces a boycott by some of its Arab neighbours.
Mr Macron travelled to the al Udeid air base, home to some 10,000 American troops and the forward headquarters of the US military’s central command.
France also has a contingent of soldiers at the base, which is crucial to the ongoing fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and to the war in Afghanistan.
Mr Macron smiled and shook hands with the French and American soldiers who greeted him at the base before walking into a meeting with the base’s top commanders.
Speaking to coalition soldiers, he said the next few months will determine the outcome of the war against the IS group in Iraq in Syria.
« This military win does not signify the end of the operations and the end of our battle because first we need to stabilise and win peace in Iraq and Syria, » he told troops.
« Next spring is decisive in the situation in Iraq. »
Mr Macron also stressed in his remarks at the air base that France wants to avoid partition in Syria and « avoid the domination of certain international elements whose interests contradict peace ».
The French president later will hold talks with Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Mr Macron is travelling with his foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who in 2015 as defence minister helped negotiate a multi-billion dollar deal with Qatar to buy 24 Rafale fighter jets.
Qatar may announce during Mr Macron’s visit that it will purchase up to 12 more of the French-made Dassault Rafale jets.
Mr Macron’s visit comes just days after a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Kuwait failed to bring the stand-off any closer to a resolution in the dispute engulfing Qatar.
In June, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut relations with Qatar over allegations it supports extremists and has too-close relations with Iran.
Qatar has long denied supporting extremists and shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Tehran.
AP

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Pyongyang says outbreak of war inevitable.
A nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula is inevitable because of threatening military drills by South Korea and the United States, North Korea’s foreign ministry said in comments carried by the official Korean Central News Agency late Wednesday.
The foreign ministry said the military exercises involving hundreds of South Korean and U. S warplanes made the outbreak of war an « established fact. » It also blamed high-ranking U. S. officials, including CIA Director Mike Pompeo, for « bellicose remarks. »
Pompeo said Saturday that U. S. intelligence agencies believe North Korean leader Kim Jong Un doesn’t have a good idea about how tenuous his situation is domestically and internationally as he pushes ahead with North Kore’s nuclear weapons program.
« We do not wish for a war but shall not hide from it, and should the U. S. miscalculate our patience and light the fuse for a nuclear war, we will surely make the U. S. dearly pay the consequences with our mighty nuclear force which we have consistently strengthened, » North Korea, which regularly threatens the U. S. and its allies, said.
The comments were consistent with the tone of Pyongyang’s previous confrontational remarks and statements condemning Washington and Seoul.
South Korea’s military said the drills — a Guam-based bomber simulated land strikes at a field near South Korea’s eastern coast — « displayed the allies’ strong intent and ability to punish North Korea when threatened by nuclear weapons and missiles. »
Flyovers have become an increasingly familiar show of force to North Korea, which after three intercontinental ballistic missile tests and six nuclear tests has moved closer toward building a nuclear arsenal that could viably target the U. S. mainland.

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