Industry Report: Bitfinex Forces Customers to Pay for Hack Losses

Another Silk Road auction is taking place, Bitfinex is covering its losses, and a new class on Bitcoin is set to begin. Want to catch up on your latest digital currency news? Take a look at the stories below.

Also read: Industry Report: News Surrounding Bitfinex Gets Weirder

BITFINEX UPDATE

Following a massive cyber-hack that took place last week, Hong Kong-based exchange Bitfinex has announced it will cover its losses at the expense of its users, leaving many people unhappy. Executives have explained that users will share up to 36 percent of the company’s losses after nearly $72 million dollars were stolen in one of the largest bitcoin thefts in history.

“We have decided to generalize losses across all accounts,” the exchange stated in an official announcement. “Upon logging into the platform, customers will see that they have experienced a generalized loss percentage of 36.067%.”

Apparently, this is what they meant when they said “socialized loss.” The exchange is also creating a new altcoin known as BFXcoin, which will be issued to users equaling their personal losses. These tokens can later be traded in for repayment by Bitfinex.

SILK ROAD AUCTION

A fifth Silk Road auction by way of the U.S. Marshals Service is set for August 22, but this time, things are a little different. In the past, bitcoin up for grabs came from of Ross Ulbricht’s personal stash. This time, less than three of the bitcoins being offered will come personally from Ulbricht, while the rest will derive from various cases surrounding Silk Road’s subsequent closure.

Among those cases is the 2015 trial and sentencing of Matthew Gillium, presently serving nine years in for alleged drug-dealing via the black market’s “anonymous” ring. The rest stem from Carl Force, a DEA agent assigned to the case who was arrested for stealing bitcoins, and Sean Roberson, a Florida man, found guilty of selling counterfeit credit and debit cards. Both men have been sentenced to over six years in prison.

BITCOIN CLASS

Online education platform Coursera is now offering a new bitcoin course for parties interested in how it works and how upcoming regulation will affect the future of finance. The class is free of charge, and will be taught by an assistant professor at Princeton University. Users must have Internet access, and are advised to sign up soon, as lessons begin in September. An added benefit is that there is “no fixed schedule,” so students can ultimately take the course on their own time.

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Images courtesy of P2P Lending Expert,  Forbes.