Decentralized cryptocurenncy loan platform 'Lendf.Me' suffered a security breach on April 18th, around $25 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen.

Using an exploit in the DeFi smart contracts, the callback mechanism enabled the hacker to withdraw ERC777 tokens repeatedly, this exploit allows them to drain the account without the new balance being immediately updated and showing the theft, until it's too late.

Upon discovering this, things couldn't have looked any worse, as the CEO publicly made this depressing statement while sharing the news:

"This attack not only harmed our users, our partners, and my co-founders, but also me personally. My assets were stolen in this attack, too.

This attack was my failure. While I did not execute it, I should have anticipated it and taken actions to prevent it. My heart goes out to everyone harmed, and I will do everything in my power to make this right. I sincerely apologize to our users, to our new investors, and to my team for letting them down."

While it sounded like the company was down and out, possibly forever - this was just the beginning of the story.

The site's CEO Mindao Yang wanted to try negotiating, so he had his team leave a note for the hackers on the blockchain, saying "Contact us. For your better future" along with their direct contact information.

An Aggressive Counterattack...

Here's where they got it right - instantly their team sprang into action, bringing in security firm SlowMist, which specializes specifically in blockchain based cybersecurity, along with the Singapore Police.

They then announced on their social media that the process of tracking down the hackers had begun.

While we don't know what (if anything) was left behind as far as clues that could lead to the hackers, the company began a campaign to put them in a state of paranoia, stating on their site that there were 'traces left by the hackers before and after the attack' allowing them to 'cross-check with the resources of various parties at home and abroad to obtain breakthrough clues, getting closer to the hacker'.

At the same time, they began contacting other exchanges and making them aware of the hack, getting them to blacklist and freeze any wallets receiving the stolen coins.

The Hackers Couldn't Handle The Heat...

The stress was too much, and the hackers began to crack - the combo of a security firm in the process of tracking them down, and the coins becoming hard to spend as more exchanges blacklisted them, led the hackers to deciding it just wasn't worth it anymore.

They began returning some of the stolen crypto, then something must have really spooked them - the following day they sent back everything they had left.

Amazingly, Nearly All Of the $25 Million Was Recovered...

While the company stated 'all' the assets had been recovered, we were only able to verify $24 of the original $25 million as being returned. But we won't bother getting hung on a tiny $1 million lost, this was still a job well done!

Any users with funds stolen have been promised 100% will be returned.

The company is now bringing in 3rd party experts to both analyze what went wrong here, and what needs to be done to fortify their security in the future.

It's safe to assume this is was part of the deal with the hackers - the company has withdrawn their request to press charges with the Singapore Police. 

In an official press release just sent out, NiceHash.com stated:

Unfortunately, there has been a security breach involving NiceHash website. We are currently investigating the nature of the incident and, as a result, we are stopping all operations for the next 24 hours.
Importantly, our payment system was compromised and the contents of the NiceHash Bitcoin wallet have been stolen. We are working to verify the precise number of BTC taken.
Clearly, this is a matter of deep concern and we are working hard to rectify the matter in the coming days. In addition to undertaking our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are co-operating with them as a matter of urgency.
We are fully committed to restoring the NiceHash service with the highest security measures at the earliest opportunity.
We would not exist without our devoted buyers and miners all around the globe. We understand that you will have a lot of questions, and we ask for patience and understanding while we investigate the causes and find the appropriate solutions for the future of the service. We will endeavour to update you at regular intervals.
While the full scope of what happened is not yet known, we recommend, as a precaution, that you change your online passwords.
We are truly sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused and are committing every resource towards solving this issue as soon as possible.
Things aren't looking good, immediately following the hack, users found their wallets emptied, having sent their money to 1 Bitcoin address: 1EnJHhq8Jq8vDuZA5ahVh6H4t6jh1mB4rq - which now holds $62,616,073.98 USD

In a situation like this, there's really only one thing NiceHash can do to get the money back - catch the hacker.

We're following this story closely for further developments.

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As shockwaves go through the cryptocurrency world as Tether announced a major hack, Bitcoin prices are going for a dive.

Down nearly $300 over the last hour, sending it back under the $8000 mark we just began celebrating.

We are awaiting news if Tether's recovery efforts will be a success, which could send the price shooting back up, or even lower.

**UPDATE**
Looks like a quick recovery from the FUD the hack caused.
Bitcoin is back to $8100 just 2 hours later.!

BREAKING: The popular wallet service Tether has been hacked.

In a message just sent out to it's users they state:

 "$30,950,010 USDT was removed from the Tether Treasury wallet on November 19, 2017 and sent to an unauthorized bitcoin address. As Tether is the issuer of the USDT managed asset, we will not redeem any of the stolen tokens, and we are in the process of attempting token recovery to prevent them from entering the broader ecosystem. "

The full message can be read below...

Tether's full statement

We will be following this story for further updates...