Mining Market NiceHash Refunds Users 4,640 Bitcoin Lost in 2017 Hack

Mining marketplace NiceHash has fully reimbursed users who were affected by the loss of 4,640 bitcoin in a late 2017 security breach.

For the past three years, the Slovenia-based mining company has "regularly waived profits" to make its customers whole, according to a letter from CEO Martin Skorjanc, published Thursday.
"We do not regret it, as it heralds the beginning of a new era of growth and development for us," he wrote.
NiceHash has been repaying its users "through our fees and thus cutting our profits," said CMO Andrej Skraba in an email to CoinDesk.
Skraba said his company was planning to repay in full sooner, but "the bear market that followed has slowed down the repayment program significantly."
The criminals who executed the breach are still unknown, Skorjanc said, calling the incident "the largest theft in Slovenian history."
The bitcoin are worth $104,629,328 at press time, according to CoinDesk 20 data. At the time of the breach, they would have had a value of around $55 million.
The hashpower-renting marketplace disclosed the hack on social media in December 2017, saying a "security breach involving NiceHash website" resulted in a loss of funds, as CoinDesk reported at the time.
In the aftermath, Skorjanc said many people told NiceHash it was time to shut up shop. "But we didn't listen to them," he wrote.

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Update (Dec 17, 17:20 UTC): This article has been updated with additional statements from NiceHash.

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