by Mark S. Bergman, Roberto Finzi, Christopher D. Frey, Manuel S. Frey, David S. Huntington, Jeannie S. Rhee, Raphael M. Russo, Jonathan H. Ashtor, Steven C. Herzog, Daniel J. Klein, and Apeksha S. Vora

On November 5, 2019, Vietnam-based cryptocurrency exchange VinDAX was hacked, losing half a million U.S. dollars’ worth of funds spread across 23 different cryptocurrencies.[1] The VinDAX hack marks the latest in a series of cryptocurrency exchange hacks and data breaches that have taken place this year, and is part of a larger and growing trend of digital currency heists that have occurred since Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, was introduced in 2008.[2] In July of this year, Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitpoint was also hacked, losing about $32 million in cryptocurrency,[3] and earlier this year, hackers stole $16 million worth of cryptocurrency from New Zealand-based Cryptopia.[4]  Losses from cryptocurrency hacks this year alone are reported to have totaled around $1.39 billion worth of assets.[5] Continue reading →