Bitcoin exchange back online after hack

Major bitcoin exchange Bitstamp went back online late Friday, four days after it shut itself down following the digital theft of over $5 million worth of bitcoins.

The United Kingdom and Slovenia-based exchange said Monday it had “reason to believe” digital criminals had compromised their network.

{mosads}Throughout the week, Bitstamp moved its system to Amazon’s cloud services and boosted its security measures, according to a statement from Bitstamp’s CEO Nejc Kodrič.

“We took the decision to rebuild our systems from the ground up from a secure backup for a few reasons,” Kodrič said. “By redeploying our system from a secure backup onto entirely new hardware, we were able to preserve the evidence for a full forensic investigation of the crime. We have also taken this time to implement a number of new security measures and protocols.”

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be used at a growing number of retailers or exchanged for physical currency. Bitstamp handles roughly 6 percent of all online bitcoin transactions.

Kodrič reiterated that the stolen bitcoins were not taken from the company’s much vaster reserves, which are stored in computer systems not connected to the Internet.

“Our team has been working day and night to rebuild and restore security to the Bitstamp site so customers can resume transacting with us quickly, safely and confidently,” he said.

Another major bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, went bankrupt last year after a suspected hack caused it to lose a reported $475 million worth of the digital currency.

Security concerns and the anonymity of digital currency has brought bitcoin onto the radar of regulators. Financial oversight agencies are expected to consider bitcoin stricter regulations in 2015.