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NiceHash
Type of business Private
Type of site
Marketplace
Headquarters
Country of origin Slovenia
Area servedWorldwide (190+ Locations)
Founder(s)Matjaž Škorjanc, Marko Kobal
Industry Cryptocurrency
Services Cryptocurrency Exchange, Software, Cryptocurrency Mining
Employees60
ParentH-Bit Holding
URL www.nicehash.com
RegistrationOptional
Users2.5 Million
Launched2014; 10 years ago (2014)
Current statusOnline

NiceHash is a cryptocurrency broker and exchange with an open marketplace for buyers and sellers of hashing power. The company provides software for cryptocurrency mining. The company was founded in 2014 by two Slovenian university students, Marko Kobal and Matjaž Škorjanc. [1] The company is based in The British Virgin Islands [2] and has offices in Maribor, Slovenia. [3]

History

NiceHash was founded in 2014 by Matjaž Škorjanc, a former medical student turned computer programmer, [4] and Marko Kobal. On December 6, 2017, approximately 4,700 Bitcoins (US$64 million at the time of the hack) were stolen from NiceHash allegedly by a spear phishing attack. [5] On December 21, Kobal resigned as the CEO. [6] On that day, the company also re-opened its marketplace after the attack. On February 17, 2021, the North Korean hacker group Lazarus was indicted for the hack. [7] [8]

Škorjanc was one of the creators of malware called Mariposa botnet and served four years and ten months in a Slovenian prison. [9] On June 5, 2019, US law enforcement reopened a case in the operations of the Mariposa (Butterfly Bot, BFBOT) malware gang. [10] In 2019, the FBI moved forward with new charges and arrest warrants against four suspects, including Škorjanc. [11] [12] Matjaž was detained in Germany in 2019 for eight months. Germany and Slovenia rejected the American requests for extradition due to double jeopardy and he was released in 2020. [13]

Škorjanc announced that the CEO in 2024 would be Vladimir Hozjan. [14]

References

  1. ^ Peterson, Becky (2017-12-30). "Bitcoin startup NiceHash has a new CEO just weeks after hackers stole $63 million from the company". Business Insider France (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-11-02. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  2. ^ "NiceHash - Leading Cryptocurrency Platform for Mining and Trading". www.nicehash.com. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  3. ^ "About NiceHash". NiceHash.
  4. ^ "DKUM - Iskanje". dk.um.si. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  5. ^ "Millions May Have Been Stolen in a Bitcoin Marketplace Hacking Heist". Fortune.
  6. ^ "Marko Kobal Resigns". LinkedIn. 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  7. ^ "Three North Korean Military Hackers Indicted in Wide-Ranging Scheme to Commit Cyberattacks and Financial Crimes Across the Globe". www.justice.gov. 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  8. ^ "North Korean hacker group indicted for 2017 NiceHash attack". NiceHash (Press release). Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  9. ^ "Slovenian hacker sentenced to jail for 'malicious' program". phys.org. Agence France-Presse. 2013-12-23. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  10. ^ "Four International Hacking Suspects Charged with Racketeering". US Department of Justice. 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  11. ^ "Eight years later, the case against the Mariposa malware gang moves forward in the US". ZDNet. 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  12. ^ Canellis, David (2019-06-11). "FBI charges NiceHash founder over dangerous dark web malware (again)". TNW | Hardfork. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  13. ^ "Slovenskega hekerja le niso izročili Američanom". www.slovenskenovice.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  14. ^ "NiceHash". Nicehash. Retrieved 2023-12-29.

External links