NiceHash was launched in 2014 by two university students from Slovenia named Marko Kobal and Matjaž Škorjanc. They built the platform while studying at the University of Maribor to allow people to buy and sell computer processing power for mining cryptocurrency.
On the 6th of December 2017 attackers stole approximately 4,700 Bitcoins from the NiceHash platform worth about US$64 million at that time. Investigators determined the breach occurred through a spear phishing attack targeting employees or system access points.
Federal prosecutors in the United States filed an indictment against the North Korean hacker group Lazarus on the 17th of February 2021. Authorities alleged the state-sponsored group used sophisticated social engineering tactics to gain unauthorized access to NiceHash systems.
Matjaž Škorjanc was detained in Germany for eight months during 2019 because extradition proceedings took place after US law enforcement reopened an investigation into his Mariposa botnet operations. German and Slovenian courts rejected American requests for his transfer due to double jeopardy laws.
In 2024 Matjaž Škorjanc announced that Vladimir Hozjan would take over as CEO of NiceHash. This leadership change marked a shift following the resignation of Marko Kobal seven years prior.