Investing.com - Bitcoin and other virtual coins were lower on Wednesday, as hackers target Ukraine for digital coins.
Bitcoin was trading at of $9,168.60, falling 1.44% as of 8:44 AM ET (12:44 GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange.
Other virtual currencies were lower, with rival Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, falling 9.14% to $630.59 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third largest virtual currency, was down 10.51% to $0.82542 while Litecoin was at $149.56, an increase of 7.37%.
A group of ransomware hackers hit the Ukraine energy ministry’s website on Wednesday, asking the government to give it 0.1 bitcoin or around $913 while $150,000 was stolen from MyEtherWallet users on Tuesday. The two attacks are just the latest of a string of hacking on crypto-related sites.
Around $670 million in digital currencies has been lost to hackers so far this year, according to Crypto Aware.
Meanwhile Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital fund that invests in cryptocurrencies, is launching a fund to buy and sell digital coins. The firm has already invested in blockchain companies like Coinbase and initial coin offerings but has yet to publicly trade on the assets.
The company has not made an official announcement, but has job ads for a finance manager and legal counsel to join its “managed fund focusing on crypto assets.”
In other news, the oldest Bitcoin exchange, Bitstamp, is for sale. Business Insider reported that South Korean gaming firm Nexon is close to finalizing a bid of $350 million for the firm. Neither company has officially confirmed the deal.