Despite the recent hack of Bithumb, the cryptocurrency exchange rallied to defy expectations. According to Yonhap’s analysis of the company’s semi-annual report, the exchange has managed to turn a profit of approximately 39.34 billion won ($35.3 million) in the first half of 2018.
Bithumb was once the 7th largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume before a hack on June 19th of this year resulted in the theft of roughly $32 million in cryptocurrencies. Many people within the crypto community speculated that it would mark the end of Bithumb.
Numbers Game
Instead, Bithumb has managed to defy expectations, turning a profit of 39.34 billion won ($35.3 million) in the first half of 2018 alone. This information comes courtesy of South Korean news agency, Yonhap, who analyzed the company’s semi-annual report published in the country’s Financial Supervisory Service ‘s Electronic Disclosure System (DART).
The financial report further shows that in the first half of 2018, Bithumb has thus far generated revenues totaling $270 million before deductions, with $194 million in operating profits.
Despite the rally, however, the exchange is still expected to fall short of its 2017 earnings – a net profit of approximately $380 million.
After The Hack!
To Bithumb’s credit, immediately following the June hack, the exchange halted all deposits and withdrawals and funds were moved to cold storage wallets in order to prevent further losses. Unfortunately, the platform was plagued with periods of significant downtime due to maintenance and security reviews.
On August 4, however, the cryptocurrency exchange was back in business. They reinstated trading and markets for 25 available cryptocurrencies were slowly being rolled out. These included Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Ethereum Classic and many more.
At press time, Bithumb is currently the 15th largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, processing more than $196 million in trades over the past 24 hours.
What do you think of Bithumb’s performance so far this year? What factors contributed to its recovery after the hack? Can they even come close to last year’s earnings? Let us know in the comments below.
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