Coinsecure to reimburse users affected in $3M theft—with a catch

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If you were impacted by the April cryptocurrency theft at the India-based Coinsecure exchange, you better hurry. This past April, 438 BTC coins were stolen from the exchange, resulting in a loss valued at the time of around $3 million. Coinsecure said that it would be covering the losses incurred by its users and has now announced on its website how it plans on making restitution to the traders, but the clock is ticking quickly.

Claimants only have four days, including Wednesday (June 27), to make their claims. Coinsecure wrote in the announcement, “Please note that the last date for submitting claims to us along with all appropriate documents is June 30, 2018.” It also stated, “We will not entertain any claims received after June 30, 2018 and we shall have no liability towards any users who try to submit claims after the said date.”

The exchange plans on processing claims for reimbursement in rupees, the official currency of India. Those individuals seeking compensation must sign an agreement absolving Coinsecure of any future liabilities and the agreement has to be presented in person to the exchange’s office in Delhi by June 30. The claim form can be found at this link.

From the start, Coinsecure has surmised that the theft was an inside job. It has not revealed any details regarding an investigation; however, it is assumed that the company’s chief scientific officer (CSO) was behind the theft. Coinsecure said at the time, “Our CSO, Dr. Amitabh Saxena, was extracting [Bitcoin Gold] and he claims that funds have been lost in the process during the extraction of the private keys.”

Soon after the theft, the exchange offered a reward of 10% for any information that lead to the recovery of the stolen currency. It promised to refund its customers if it successfully recovered the stolen BTC. If it didn’t make the recovery, it said it would refund account balances by paying 10% in BTC and the remaining 90% in rupees.

On the day of the heist, BTC was trading at around $6,850. Because BTC, and other cryptocurrencies, have since fallen in value, it’s conceivable that traders might actually make a profit through the compensation plan.