The Nicehash mining service was allegedly hacked today, with more than 60 millions of dollars of stolen funds. Users report that funds have been moved from their own Nicehash Bitcoin internal addresses to a single Bitcoin address controlled by an unknown party. The company issued a statement on Reddit, saying:

"Unfortunately, there has been a security breach involving the NiceHash website.We are currently investigating the nature of the incident and, therefore, we stop all operations for the next 24 hours Importantly, our payment system has been compromised and the contents of the NiceHash Bitcoin wallet have been stolen We are working to verify the exact number of BTCs taken

"Obviously, this is a subject of deep concern and we are working hard to rectify the situation in the coming days. In addition to conducting our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are cooperating with them as a matter of urgency.

The company apparently is planning to resume operations, though it is uncertain how they will retain their users following a hack of this magnitude. "Nicehash wrote:

] "We are fully committed to restoring the NiceHash service with the highest security measures at the earliest opportunity …

" While the full scope of what has not happened yet, we recommend, as a precaution, to change your passwords online.We are really sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and commit each resource to solve this problem as soon as possible. "

Different Types of Services

Nicehash is not a mining basin, in itself. It is rather a site that allows owners of mining equipment to rent their hashpower to buyers. The hashpower sellers find it convenient because they do not need to spend so much time finding the most profitable coins. Buyers are happy not to have to buy expensive mining equipment for what may be only a short but intense period of mining.

Effects on other basins

It is not known what, if any, effect this hacking will have on any other mining pools. The vast majority of cryptocurrency extraction is done by users who "bundle" their efforts through a centralized service, called the data mining pool. They trust the pool to pay them a percentage of each block that the pool is operating successfully, in proportion to the amount of hash that they have done. Pools have been criticized in the past for creating centralization in what is supposed to be a decentralized currency movement.

A large number of mining basins are located in China, including some of the largest, such as Antool, F2Pool, BTCC, BW Pool and others. Private mining pools, such as BitFury, are also important players in the industry.