Bitcoin prices on Wednesday evening were virtually unchanged, even as unknown hackers were perpetuating a massive scam to lure bitcoins away from owners.<\/p>\n
Scammers were engaged in a sprawling hack that compromised the Twitter Inc. TWTR, +1.50% accounts of a parade of high-profile individuals and entities, including Tesla Inc.s TSLA, +0.01% CEO Elon Musk and Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A, -0.04% BRK.B, -0.13% billionaire Warren Buffett. Hackers used the accounts to solicit bitcoins from individuals by promising to double the amount sent to a bitcoin wallet address. Former President Barack Obamas Twitter account also was hacking, underscoring the breadth and sophistication of the hacking (see an attached screenshot of the tweet).<\/p>\n
Bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.48%, however, was seeing little in the way of significant movement, with the value of the worlds most popular digital currency off 0.4% at $9,209.77, and futures for bitcoin trading on the CME Group were up slightly, around 0.5%, in electronic trade, after the June contract settled at $9,190, according to FactSet data. <\/p>\n
In a stated via its platform, Twitter said that it was aware of a security incident on its platform. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin has a long history of hacking by perpetrators looking to abscond with other peoples digital currencies. The cryptographic asset also has a history of individuals hacking bitcoin exchanges. <\/p>\n
Last year, popular exchange platform Binance said it discovered that hackers stole 7,000 Bitcoins from a single digital wallet, totaling some $40 million, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. <\/p>\n
Hacks have been a primary reason that many have been circumspect about the future of the cryptocurrency, which introduced the world to blockchain technology. According to WSJ, more than $1.7 billion in bitcoin has been publicly reported stolen, since the inception of the coin back in 2009, including the historic Mt. Gox hack. <\/p>\n
It isnt clear if any coins have been lost in this episode, but some have speculated that the perpetrator of this Twitter attack may have gotten some $100,000 in coins sent to their account. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, other cryptos that also tout the blockchain ledger technology, the signature element of bitcoins, also were seeing little price movement. <\/p>\n
Prices of Ether, the currency that runs atop the Ethereum ETHUSD, +1.21% platform, were off 1% at $238.07, those for XRP XRPUSD, +1.21%, the currency pegged to Ripple, were down 0.5%, trading at 19.7 cents. <\/p>\n
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