South Korean Bitcoin Exchange to Pay Back Users After Account Thefts

South Korea's largest bitcoin and ether exchange is moving to compensate users days after it emerged that the site's data systems had been compromised.

A report from regional news service Yonhap on Monday indicated that as many as 30,000 customers of Bithumb were impacted. The source of the data leak is believed to have been an employee's computer, leading to the draining of funds from an unknown number of user accounts.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bithumb is currently the fourth-largest bitcoin exchange by volume, accounting for roughly 3% of the global market. The exchange is the largest ethereum exchange as of today, reporting about 13.5% of total trade activity.

Though the exact scale of losses isn't known at press time, Bithumb said in a blog post published earlier today that it is providing 100,000 Korean won – worth about $86.50 at press time – to each affected customer.

Local

reports further indicate that the incident dates back to February, and was first reported to authorities late last month. One local user claimed to have 10 million won, worth roughly $8,700, taken from their account.

The exchange said that it will further compensate users whose funds are stolen as a result of the data leak.

"In addition, for the members who suffer additional damage due to this incident, we will compensate the entire amount of damages in a responsible manner," Bithumb's operators said.

The incident has been reported to local authorities, according to Yonhap, resulting in the early stages of an investigation by the Korea Internet and Security Agency. An unnamed official told the publication that the the Korea Communications Commission is also involved in the investigation.

Wallet theft image via Shutterstock