
South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb has announced a total loss of 205.5 billion won (equivalence of $108 million) for the year, 2018.
According to report seen on Thursday, the losses are due to infrastructural investments, labour costs and a sharp decline in last year’s cryptocurrency market.
Furthermore, a number of successful cyber attacks impacted on performance. These factors put together swung the crypto exchange to deficit compared to 2017.
The hack on the exchange
Two weeks earlier, Bithumb reported a hack which resulted in the loss of $13 million worth of eos and $6.2 million worth of XRP. A similar attack reported previously had seen the company lose $30 million worth of crypto assets although it later claimed $14 million was recovered.
Other losses, as announced by the exchange were from a 3.4% decrease in operating profit as well as an overwhelming 9,300% increase in non-operating expenses.
In an announcement following the latest hack, Bithumb said it has moved all customers’ assets to cold wallets for safe keeping. This may be a safeguard amidst its financial crisis realizing it cannot afford to make any more mistakes. The exchange also reveals plans to reduce its staff strength by up to 50%.