The Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, which recently suffered a cyberattack, will try to reimburse users their lost assets in ether and bitcoin.
The main fundraising channels are equity investment, debenture investment and profit from block trades. The funds will be primarily used to compensate the holders of ether, the main asset stolen during the cyberattack that happened in May. The cryptocurrency exchange platform hopes to relaunch by the end of July, said Hong Kong Free Press.
According to Aurelién Menant, the founder and CEO of Gatecoin, two technology team members have been fired and the exchange is looking “to recruit talent” to replace them before restarting.
Thomas Glucksmann, marketing manager for Gatecoin, also said the investigation of the cyberattack is still ongoing so the company cannot share any more details about the security breach.
The exchange lost 185,000 ethers and 250 bitcoins during the attack. At that time, the total volume of stolen funds was evaluated at 15.5 million Hong Kong dollars (2 million USD). As both bitcoin and ether grew in price since May, the sum now is much higher.
The exchange has been offline since mid-May. Gatecoin claimed that 95% of assets were intact because they were stored in multisignature wallets.
Gatecoin was founded in 2013. The company is a licensed money service operator in Hong Kong, despite the decision of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do not require regulation. The cryptocurrency startup attracted 150,000 USD of venture investment. In 2014, it won the Best start-up prize for the Central and East Asia Region at Talent Unleashed. It is the only bitcoin company to join the incubator of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.
Alexey Tereshchenko