Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex is opting to split the cost of the $71m theft it suffered last week across all of its users.
The site was shut down following a hack that saw 119,756 bitcoins stolen from users’ accounts. The company says it will take 36% from each account to share the losses across the entire community.
“After much thought, analysis, and consultation, we have arrived at the conclusion that losses must be generalized across all accounts and assets,� said the company in a blog post.
“This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context. Upon logging into the platform, customers will see that they have experienced a generalized loss percentage of 36.067%. In a later announcement we will explain in full detail the methodology used to compute these losses.�
Bitfinex says it is also in the early stages of negotiations with investors to raise more money with the aim of fully compensating all customers.
Bitfinex is distributing BFX tokens to all users’ accounts that will remain outstanding until redeemed in full by the company. Customers can also opt to exchange the tokens for equity in the firm’s parent company iFinex.
Following news of the hack the cryptocurrency’s price against the dollar dropped from $631 to $518 in less than 24 hours. It has since recovered to around $590, according to CoinDesk’s BPI.
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