Crypto-currency start-up CoinDash is set to officially launch today with an unexpected gift from a hacker, after it was handed back 20,000 Ethereum (ETH) stolen last year.
The Israeli company lost what amounted to around $7m worth of Ethereum at the time, after hackers changed the firm’s wallet address on its website to one they owned.
That led to more than 2000 investors sending Ethereum to the malicious address, resulting in losses totaling 37,000 ETH.
The firm promised to reimburse those duped investors, but with CoinDash Tokens (CDTs) “reflective of each contribution.”
However, last week, the firm claimed to have received 20,000 ETH from an anonymous source it believes to be the July 2017 hacker.
The virtual currency was sent from the FAKE_CoinDash account.
CoinDash CEO, Alon Muroch, said the Israeli Counter Cyber Terrorist Unit had been notified, and that the hacker’s Ethereum address will continue to be monitored for suspicious activity.
“Similar to the hack itself, the hacker’s actions will not prevent us from the realizing our vision, CoinDash product launch will take place next week as originally intended,” he added in a statement.
The news follows a similar transfer of funds from the same FAKE_CoinDash account to one of CoinDash’s ETH accounts back in September last year. On that occasion the firm received 10,000 ETH.
It’s even more perplexing considering the soaring value of Ethereum. The value of the total returned funds at today’s prices amounts to over $26m.
Although CoinDash seems to have been spectacularly lucky, most firms in its situation are not.
Ernst & Young claimed last month that crypto-ICOs typically lose 10% of their funds to hackers, with $400m already stolen.