Bloomberg: Bitfinex says it may spread losses among users

After suffering a crippling hack earlier this week, Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex said it may spread the loss among its users, including ones not directly impacted by the hack.



“We are leaning towards a socialized loss scenario among bitcoin balances and active loans to BTCUSD positions,” the exchange wrote in a blog post Friday. Bitfinex is still “settling positions and balances,” and will provide more details soon, it said.



Bitfinex was the largest exchange for U.S. dollar-denominated transactions over the past month, according to bitcoincharts.com. This week’s attack is potentially the second-largest on an exchange since Japan’s Mt. Gox -- then the largest bitcoin exchange in the world -- suffered a hack in February 2014 and filed for bankruptcy weeks later. Bitcoin prices plunged 30 percent that month.