Troubled Hong Kong Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex suffered a “severe” DDoS attack on Tuesday which temporarily shut down its website.
The attack, according to a dedicated status page set up by the exchange, was dealt with in under an hour.
Nonetheless, it is a sad reminder that Bitcoin price surges and associated trading enthusiasm do not always work out well for everyone.
The exchange kept the community informed via Twitter and managed to restore functionality swiftly.
We have taken steps to identify and block the attack. The system is returning to normal. https://t.co/u3pYCWdhHY
— Bitfinex.com (@bitfinex) February 21, 2017
Bitcoin has witnessed a broad uptick in both price and trading activity from markets across the world over the past few months. A combination of factors has ensured interest in the cryptocurrency continues unabated, with its price rivaling all-time highs.
For Bitfinex, however, the attack marks another timely misfortune, with users still remembering its large scale hack last summer, in which nearly 120,000 Bitcoins were stolen. The size of the theft was enough to send the Bitcoin price tumbling by 20 percent.
In total, 2016 witnessed multiple major Bitcoin exchange hacks, with commentators subsequently warning about the dangers posed by third-party repositories.