As Bitcoin Tests New Heights, Crypto Theft Keeps Happening

Morning Report: Another crypto theft underscores the surging sector’s risks.

Bitcoin’s recent surge over $8,000 per coin is driving the conversation about cryptos; however, beneath the top-line number, not all things are smooth in the land of crypto. Put more simply, the spiking price of leading cryptos hasn’t changed the underlying security issues that continue to impact retail-scale investors in the new assets.

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Quickly, just weeks after an event that CNBC describes as $280 million of ether “frozen” by a “wallet” that “suicided,” $30 million of tether, give or take, were stolen. Tether, as CoinDesk notes, is function as a dollar “proxy” of sorts, and it is accepted at various exchanges.

Thus, even as cryptos — crypto-assets, cryptocurrencies, and all the rest — examine new value heights, the same sort of problems persist that have long-plagued digital tokens.

There is movement, however, among startups to boost security for large-scale crypto investors. Coinbase, perhaps the best-capitalized crypto-focused startup, recently announced Coinbase Custody, a tool to help “institutional investors securely store digital assets,” according to the company. (It estimates that there are billions of dollars waiting for a shot at jumping into the crypto pool, and it would like to help said money do so.)

So for players that can afford to put down the $10 million minimum deposit to qualify for Custody, there are new security options. For the regular investor, caveat emptor.

Perhaps the rising class dynamic in crypto that the sector’s maturation brings could be viewed as a signal of maturity. (We’re only half-kidding.)

From the Crunchbase Daily:

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