News surfaced on July 12, 2019, that the Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitpoint was hacked and cryptocurrency funds worth $32 million were stolen. Now, investigations pertaining to the hack have successfully located and recovered $2.3 million worth of cryptocurrencies that were stolen from the exchange.

The hack was first discovered after noticing issues in fund transfers from the exchange on July 11. All funds were stolen from a hot wallet, which is connected to the internet. The exchange operator Remixpoint Inc. was quick to take action and suspend all trading activities on the exchange.

According to Bitpoint Japan, the funds were spotted in an overseas exchange that uses Bitpoint’s trading system.

Bitpoint Initial Losses Now $29 Million

Though the net loss of the exchange still looks gargantuan as it stands at $29 million, the recovery of $2.3 million worth of cryptocurrencies is still a welcome relief.

Of the total funds stolen from Bitpoint, $23 million belonged to users. while the rest was owned by the exchange itself. In earlier reports, the operating company of the exchange had ensured that they would compensate for all the lost funds of the exchange’s users.

Making the Market More Bearish

The cryptocurrency markets have been plummeting the last few days, with Bitcoin dropping from its 52 week high of $13,900 and currently sitting just above $10,000.

Exchange hacks such as the theft from Bitpoint only add to the bearish sentiments of the market. It just goes to show that the cryptocurrency industry has a far way to go in terms of securing the funds of its participants.

Only a few months back, we were struck with the hack of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Binance. This resulted in a net loss of over $40 million which weren’t recovered.

Already under the heavy scrutiny of monetary regulators around the globe, huge dents caused by these hacks add to the gravity of the adverse situation and pushes cryptocurrencies a step away from mass adoption.

What do you think is lacking in cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bitpoint that result in such large-scale hacks? Do you think the negligence of cryptocurrency users towards security also plays a part in this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.