South Korean exchange Yapizon has become the latest victim of hackers, reportedly losing 3,800 BTC in customer funds.
In a notice on Saturday translated on social media, staff confirmed the theft of 3,831 Bitcoins, “equivalent to 37.08% of the total assets.”
Remaining balances will suffer
Appearing to follow in the footsteps of fellow exchange Bitfinex after its hack last year, Yapizon said it would dock remaining customer balances by the same amount to spread the burden of the losses.
The post continues:
“After many discussions, legal and accounting consultations and reviews, We have come to the conclusion that it should be applied fairly to all members. It is also the most common way to go through the liquidation process. The loss of 37.08% will have the same effect on all members' assets.”
Bitfinex only this month announced it had fully recapitalized and was able to purchase back tokens issued when its users received a 36 percent tax on their balances.
The move caused mixed reactions, with ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees notably calling it “fucking amazing.”
At the same time, users who sold off their tokens early after they dipped in value have no recourse to their original funds and have lost out.
Whether Yapizon will instigate a full token scheme remains to be seen. Interim measures make reference to a sequential payment scheme where users will be repaid in so-called “fei” tokens, but the process appears overly convoluted.
A number of cryptocurrency exchanges experienced hacks in 2016, including ShapeShift.