Posted Photo: The volume stolen amounts to about 0.75 per cent of all bitcoin in circulation.Related Story: Australian Craig Wright confirms he is Bitcoin creator Related Story: Bitcoin industry rushing through guidelines as 'devastated' buyers seek refunds Related Story: Bitcoin investors 'owed thousands' by struggling Australian exchange Map: Hong Kong Nearly 120,000 units of digital currency Bitcoin worth about $US72 million ($94.8 million) has been stolen from the exchange platform, Bitfinex, in Hong Kong, making it the second-biggest security breach ever of such an exchange.Bitfinex is one of the largest exchanges for Bitcoin, and is known in the digital currency community for having a platform that has deep liquidity in the US dollar/bitcoin currency pair.Bitfinex community and product development director Zane Tackett said that 119,756 bitcoin had been stolen from users' accounts and that the exchange had not yet decided how to address customer losses."The

bitcoin was stolen from users' segregated wallets," he said.Bitcoin plunged just over 23 per cent on Tuesday (local time) after the news broke.On Wednesday it was up 1 per cent at $545.20 on the BitStamp platform.Can't tell a bitcoin from a blockchain?Read our explainer to see how the cryptocurrency works.Mr Tackett added that the breach did not "expose any weaknesses in the security of a blockchain", the technology that generates and processes bitcoin, a web-based "cryptocurrency" that can move across the globe anonymously without the need for a central authority.The volume stolen amounts to about 0.75 per cent of all bitcoin in circulation."It'sthe biggest USD exchange, so outside China it's the one that everyone has an account with," said Antony Lewis, a bitcoin expert in Singapore."It'svery liquid, folk can trade on margin, lots of daily volume."Itis not yet clear whether the theft was an inside job or whether hackers were able to gain access to the system externally.Bitfinex suspended trading on Tuesday after it discovered the breach.

It said on its website that it was investigating and cooperating with the authorities.The attack on Bitfinex was reminiscent of a similar but larger breach at MtGox, a Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange that was forced to file for bankruptcy in early 2014 after hackers stole an estimated $US650 million worth of customers' bitcoins.bitcoin raspberry pi imageUpdated Photo: Unlike old currencies, bitcoin is digital and traded computer to computer.github bitcoin bookRelated Story: US seizes 'largest ever' Bitcoin haul from man linked to Silk Road Related Story: Silk Road shut down after alleged owner arrested Map: Australia A young Australian entrepreneur says his bitcoin website has been hacked and thieves have stolen more than $1 million in virtual currency.Unlike old currencies bitcoin is digital, traded computer-to-computer, and often used to pay for goods and services on the internet.But it has no central authority or government-based backing, and the alleged theft - one of the largest in the currency's four-year history - raises questions about digital money and if it can ever be regulated.A bitcoin user who calls himself TradeFortress says more than 4,100 bitcoins worth about $1.1 million have been robbed from his website.The stolen bitcoins are owned by the users of his website, who had trusted their bitcoins to him.TradeFortress, who says he is not much older than 18, does not want to be identified because he is worried about his personal safety.He and his users know the chances of getting their bitcoins back are extremely unlikely because bitcoin transactions cannot be reversed.The bitcoin transaction trail is designed to be anonymous, which has led to speculation this was an inside job and that TradeFortress took the coins for himself.bitcoin etf announcement

Audio: Massive bitcoin robbery hits Australian website, raises questions over regulations But when asked by the ABC's AM he strenuously denied those accusations, and said that despite his $1 million loss he is unlikely to report the theft to the police."Thelitecoin best gpupolice don't have access to any more information than any user does when it comes to bitcoin.bitcoin waren kaufenSome say it gives them control of their money," TradeFortress said.A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police says to his knowledge, a theft of bitcoins has never been investigated at either a federal or state level.But he says if it was reported, it would be treated like any other theft.Technology commentator Stilgherrian says the appeal of bitcoin theft, as opposed to stocks or bonds, lies in its inability to be traced.He says bitcoins are already raising big questions over regulations, policing and even taxation."Oncejewelry bitcoin faucet

you've got the bitcoin there's no way, well no easy way, of telling where you got that from," he said."Sofrom a money laundering point of view, it's very attractive."We'retalking about roughly a million dollars worth of bitcoin gone.bitcoin qt makeThat puts it up there with some of the biggest bank robberies in history."Atbitcoin qt maketoday's exchange rates, each bitcoin is worth about $275.bitcoin ticker htmlAt the beginning of the year, they were worth about $30 each.The quick and massive rise in the value of bitcoins has given the currency a higher profile, but Sthilgarian says it is also attracting more criminals."Peoplerob banks because that's where the money is, your bitcoin wallet which is really just a digital file sitting on your computer, can be just as vulnerable and just as attractive," he said."And