NiceHash
{{Short description|Slovenian cryptocurrency company}}
{{Infobox website
| name = NiceHash
| logo = Size=Large,_Color=Normal.png
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| company_type = Private
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| country = Switzerland
| country_of_origin = Slovenia
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| area_served = Worldwide (190+ Locations)
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| industry = Cryptocurrency
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| services = Cryptocurrency, Software, Cryptocurrency Mining
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| international = Yes
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| founder = Matjaž Škorjanc, Marko Kobal
| employees = 60
| parent = H-Bit Holding
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| url = {{URL|https://www.nicehash.com}}
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| website_type = Marketplace
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| registration = Optional
| users = 2.5 Million
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| launch_date = {{start date and age|2014}}
| current_status = Online
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NiceHash is a cryptocurrency broker and exchange with an open marketplace for buyers and sellers of hashing power. The company provides software for cryptocurrency mining. The company was founded in 2014 by two Slovenian university students, Marko Kobal and Matjaž Škorjanc.{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Becky |date=2017-12-30 |title=Bitcoin startup NiceHash has a new CEO just weeks after hackers stole $63 million from the company |url=https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/bitcoin-startup-nicehash-replaced-its-ceo-soon-after-63-million-hack-2017-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102232200/https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/bitcoin-startup-nicehash-replaced-its-ceo-soon-after-63-million-hack-2017-12 |archive-date=2021-11-02 |access-date=2021-11-02 |website=Business Insider France |language=fr}} The company is based in The British Virgin Islands{{Cite web |title=NiceHash - Leading Cryptocurrency Platform for Mining and Trading |url=https://www.nicehash.com/about |access-date=2021-11-02 |website=www.nicehash.com |archive-date=2021-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107164817/https://www.nicehash.com/about |url-status=live }} and has offices in Maribor, Slovenia.{{Cite web |title=About NiceHash |url=https://www.nicehash.com/about |website=NiceHash |access-date=2017-12-27 |archive-date=2017-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227235556/https://www.nicehash.com/about |url-status=live }}
History
NiceHash was founded in 2014 by Matjaž Škorjanc, a former medical student turned computer programmer,{{Cite web |title=DKUM - Iskanje |url=https://dk.um.si/Iskanje.php?type=napredno&lang=slv&stl0=Avtor&niz0=Matja%C5%BE+%C5%A0korjanc |access-date=2021-11-02 |website=dk.um.si |archive-date=2021-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102232204/https://dk.um.si/Iskanje.php?type=napredno&lang=slv&stl0=Avtor&niz0=Matja%C5%BE+%C5%A0korjanc |url-status=live }} and Marko Kobal. On December 6, 2017, approximately 4,700 Bitcoins (US$64 million at the time of the hack) were stolen from NiceHash allegedly by a spear phishing attack.{{Cite web |title=Millions May Have Been Stolen in a Bitcoin Marketplace Hacking Heist |url=http://fortune.com/2017/12/07/nicehash-bitcoin-hack-cryptocurrency/ |website=Fortune |access-date=2017-12-27 |archive-date=2017-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228145559/http://fortune.com/2017/12/07/nicehash-bitcoin-hack-cryptocurrency/ |url-status=live }} On December 21, Kobal resigned as the CEO.{{Cite news |date=2017-12-21 |title=Marko Kobal Resigns |url=https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6349582704270548992/ |access-date=2017-12-27 |work=LinkedIn |language=en-US |archive-date=2019-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628011340/https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6349582704270548992/ |url-status=live }} On that day, the company also re-opened its marketplace after the attack. On February 17, 2021, the North Korean hacker group Lazarus was indicted for the hack.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-17 |title=Three North Korean Military Hackers Indicted in Wide-Ranging Scheme to Commit Cyberattacks and Financial Crimes Across the Globe |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-north-korean-military-hackers-indicted-wide-ranging-scheme-commit-cyberattacks-and |access-date=2021-11-02 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en |archive-date=2023-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408080419/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-north-korean-military-hackers-indicted-wide-ranging-scheme-commit-cyberattacks-and |url-status=live }}{{Cite press release |title=North Korean hacker group indicted for 2017 NiceHash attack |url=https://www.nicehash.com/blog/post/north-korean-hacker-group-indicted-for-2017-nicehash-attack |language=en |access-date=2021-06-10 |website=NiceHash |archive-date=2021-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610061025/https://www.nicehash.com/blog/post/north-korean-hacker-group-indicted-for-2017-nicehash-attack |url-status=live }}
Škorjanc was one of the creators of a malware called Mariposa botnet and served four years and ten months in a Slovenian prison.{{Cite web |date=2013-12-23 |title=Slovenian hacker sentenced to jail for 'malicious' program |url=https://phys.org/news/2013-12-slovenian-hacker-sentenced-malicious.html |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=phys.org |publisher=Agence France-Presse |archive-date=2024-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104165105/https://phys.org/news/2013-12-slovenian-hacker-sentenced-malicious.html |url-status=live }} On June 5, 2019, US law enforcement reopened a case in the operations of the Mariposa (Butterfly Bot, BFBOT) malware gang.{{Cite news |date=2019-06-05 |title=Four International Hacking Suspects Charged with Racketeering |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/four-international-hacking-suspects-charged-racketeering |access-date=2019-06-11 |work=US Department of Justice |language=en-US |archive-date=2019-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608125903/https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/four-international-hacking-suspects-charged-racketeering |url-status=live }} In 2019, the FBI moved forward with new charges and arrest warrants against four suspects, including Škorjanc.{{Cite news |date=2019-06-11 |title=Eight years later, the case against the Mariposa malware gang moves forward in the US |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/eight-years-later-the-case-against-the-mariposa-malware-gang-moves-forward-in-the-us/ |access-date=2019-06-11 |work=ZDNet |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008202946/https://www.zdnet.com/article/eight-years-later-the-case-against-the-mariposa-malware-gang-moves-forward-in-the-us/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Canellis |first=David |date=2019-06-11 |title=FBI charges NiceHash founder over dangerous dark web malware (again) |url=https://thenextweb.com/news/nicehash-fbi-mariposa-cryptocurrency-dark-web-malware-mining |access-date=2021-09-21 |website=TNW {{!}} Hardfork |language=en |archive-date=2021-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921205130/https://thenextweb.com/news/nicehash-fbi-mariposa-cryptocurrency-dark-web-malware-mining |url-status=live }} Matjaž was detained in Germany in 2019 for eight months. Germany and Slovenia rejected the American requests for extradition due to double jeopardy and he was released in 2020.{{Cite web |title=Slovenskega hekerja le niso izročili Američanom |url=https://www.slovenskenovice.si/iz-tiskane-izdaje/slovenskega-hekerja-le-niso-izrocili-americanom/ |access-date=2021-11-02 |website=www.slovenskenovice.si |language=sl-si |archive-date=2021-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102232202/https://www.slovenskenovice.si/iz-tiskane-izdaje/slovenskega-hekerja-le-niso-izrocili-americanom/ |url-status=live }}
Škorjanc announced that the CEO in 2024 would be Vladimir Hozjan.{{Cite web |title=NiceHash |url=https://www.nicehash.com/blog/post/a-letter-from-our-ceo-a-new-era-awaits |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=Nicehash |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229170600/https://www.nicehash.com/blog/post/a-letter-from-our-ceo-a-new-era-awaits |url-status=live }}
References
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External links
- {{Official website|https://www.nicehash.com/}}
{{Cryptocurrencies}}
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Category:Internet properties established in 2014
Category:Companies based in Ljubljana