Bitstamp claims its bitcoins are secure after attack forces exchange shutdown

Bitstamp reassured customers that their bitcoins are safe after a weekend hack forced the exchange to shut down on Monday.

“As a security precaution against compromises Bitstamp only maintains a small fraction of customer bitcoins in online systems. Bitstamp maintains more than enough offline reserves to cover the compromised bitcoins,” the exchange said in a statement on its website.

The hack, which took place Sunday, targeted one of Bitstamp’s operational or hot wallets, the statement said. Hot wallets are connected to the Internet and used to immediately exchange the virtual currency. Bitstamp hasn’t revealed details of the attack nor whether bitcoins were stolen.

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