[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s seventh-largest cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail said on June 11 almost 30 percent of its total assets or 40 billion won (US$37 million) was stolen in a cyberattack yesterday -- the largest hacking attack on a local crypto exchange.

The firm said 3.6 billion altcoins were withdrawn from the exchange for 40 minutes at around 1 a.m. on June 10. The remaining 70 percent of the assets were transferred to an off-line account, so-called cold wallet, immediately and kept safely. 

The incident prompted fears among investors, driving down prices of two popular digital coins Bitcoin and Ethereum by 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively, as of 3 p.m. compared to a day before.

In the meantime, the police also launched an investigation into the hacking attack that came just 10 days after the exchange revised its policy for damage compensation.

This is the fifth hacking attack on a Korean crypto exchange. Last year, several exchanges, including the largest Bithumb suffered cyberattacks. In December, Youbit filed for bankruptcy after suffering two hackings that cost it a combined 22.5 billion won.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)