NiceHash CEO Marko Kobal Resigns After Hackers Steal $63 Million In Bitcoin
Marko Kobal, co-founder of crypto-currency mining site NiceHash, has stepped down as CEO after hackers made off with $63 million worth of Bitcoin from the company. Following the theft, the company's founders apologized on Facebook Live and to shut down operations for 24 hours.
In a statement on LinkedIn, Kobal says that the company has been working to recover from the hack. His decision to resign will also allow new management to lead the organization through its next, exciting period of growth.
"I have been incredibly privileged to share in the excitement of growing NiceHash since its earliest days," Kobal said in the post. "I have every confidence in the ability of our extraordinary team to develop the service, and I expect to see the company prosper in the coming years."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Kobal founded the company along with Matjaž Škorjanc, who will still remain as the company's Chief Technology Officer. Kobal's will be replaced by Zdravko Poljašević, who didn't previously have a position at the company, according to a Slovenian newspaper.
Part of his resignation, Kobal agreed to sell his 45% stake in the company. Part of his stake will be acquired by an outside minority investor while the rest will be purchased by NiceHash's majority owner, H-Bit, which is owned by Škorjanc's father, Martin Škorjanc.
NiceHash's business model involves an online marketplace that allows users to offer up their computer's processing power to help with the calculations needed to create new bitcoins. Users can also buy computer processing power from the company's other customers.
Prior to the hack, the company used a single digital wallet to store both all of its own bitcoin and that held by its users. A total of 4,700 bitcoins were stolen on Dec. 6, none of which have been recovered.
In order to fix its reputation, NiceHash has announced that it will be compensation users who lost Bitcoins using investor money. According to the company, they will be announcing the reimbursement date after Jan. 31.
