What is NiceHash?
NiceHash is a cryptocurrency broker and exchange that runs an open marketplace for buyers and sellers of hashing power. It also provides its own software for cryptocurrency mining.
Questions about NiceHash
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who founded NiceHash?
NiceHash was founded in 2014 by two Slovenian university students, Marko Kobal and Matjaž Škorjanc. Škorjanc had trained as a medical student before turning to computer programming.
Where is NiceHash headquartered?
NiceHash is based in the British Virgin Islands and keeps offices in Maribor, Slovenia.
How much Bitcoin was stolen from NiceHash in the 2017 hack?
On the 6th of December 2017, approximately 4,700 Bitcoins, worth about 64 million US dollars at the time, were allegedly stolen from NiceHash in a spear phishing attack.
Who was blamed for the NiceHash hack?
On the 17th of February 2021, the North Korean hacker group Lazarus was indicted for the theft.
What criminal history does NiceHash co-founder Matjaž Škorjanc have?
Matjaž Škorjanc was one of the creators of malware known as the Mariposa botnet, also called Butterfly Bot or BFBOT, and a Slovenian court sentenced him to four years and ten months in prison for it. He was later detained in Germany for eight months in 2019, and Germany and Slovenia rejected US extradition requests on double jeopardy grounds, releasing him in 2020.
Who is NiceHash's CEO as of 2024?
Matjaž Škorjanc announced that Vladimir Hozjan would become NiceHash's chief executive in 2024. Marko Kobal, the company's first CEO, resigned on the 21st of December 2017, days after the hack.