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Bitcoin Bank Flexcoin Collapses After Hack Attack

NPR

Published March 5, 2014 at 12:35 PM CST

On Tuesday, the bitcoin bank Flexcoin was forced to shut down after hackers stole approximately $600,000 worth of bitcoins.

The bank announced it lost all 896 units of the digital currency stored online, and will not be able to come back from the loss.

The theft comes in the wake of the closure of Mt. Gox, another bitcoin exchange, which filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo last week after losing 750,000 bitcoins in a hack attack.

NPR Technology Correspondent Steve Henn discusses these thefts and how they will influence the now tenuous future of digital currency.

Guest

Steve Henn, technology correspondent for NPR. He tweets @HennsEggs.