Ethereum loses £400,000 worth of tokens in rare hack

The digital currency Ethereum lost up to £400,000 worth of tokens in a rare cyber “51% attack” that has raised questions about its security.

Cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase have frozen the trading of the token after the rare attack and authorities still do not know the identity of the hackers.

The “51% attack” happens when a hacker controls over 51% of the mining on the network and can choose to double-spend certain coins. In the attack the hackers would create a fork in the network and allowing miners to send the same coin to multiple parties.

Ethereum Classic tweeted on Monday: “To be clear we are making no attempt to hide or downplay recent events. Facts are facts and as the situation develops we'll soon get a full picture of what actually took place. Linzhi is testing ASICS. Coinbase reported double spends; both may be true. In time we will see.”

According to GasTracker, the suspected malicious miner still possesses 45% of Ethereum’s hashrate.

The hack has raised further concerns about the security of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.