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A little earlier on today one of our reporters – Yashu Gola – published this piece outlining the suspected RNG attack on, and the resulting service halt, of leading bitcoin exchange platform BitStamp. While the exact details surrounding the attack – along with the potential implications – remain unclear, there have been a couple of updates so we thought it was probably worth collating them and bringing our users up to speed.
First, a number of users on Reddit have been discussing a proof of solvency report published back in May last year and audited by Mike Hearn. First off, it’s important to note that – despite the title of the discussion – the report is not proof of solvency, only proof of reserves. The difference here is that the report only shows that at that point in time Bitstamp held sufficient bitcoin to cover customer deposits, as tracked by their master database. It should also be noted that Mike Hearn is not a qualified financial auditor, and he was simply used as an independent party in the verification.
On a slightly more positive note, CEO and co-founder of Bitstamp Nejc Kodrič has stated that the “bulk” of Bitstamp’s bitcoin are in cold storage – and remain completely safe.
To restate: the bulk of our bitcoin are in cold storage, and remain completely safe.
— Nejc Kodrič (@nejc_kodric) January 5, 2015
Again, this is raising some questions as to what exactly is meant by “our”. Is he referring to the exchange’s bitcoin’s or its clients’? Hopefully, the latter. Further, hopefully, by bulk he means closer to 100% than 50%.
We will keep you updated as we hear more so check back later for information.
