Some of Bitcoin enthusiast Mike Caldwell's coins are pictured at his office in this photo illustration in Sandy, Utah, January 31, 2014.
The latest incarnation of Silk Road, an illicit goods Internet marketplace that was shut down by the FBI in October, has been hacked and had all of its bitcoins stolen.
According to Defcon, a pseudonymous administrator for the site, the attacker exploited a vulnerability in the Bitcoin protocol known as “transaction malleability,” and users reportedly lost bitcoins at the value of over $2 million. The same method was used in an attack on several major bitcoin exchanges earlier in the week, although no money was lost then.
Other black-market web portals have struggled to take up the role of Silk Road in the past months, with Dutch authorities recently taking down a site called Utopia.
Last week, Ross Ulbricht denied all charges of being the creator of Silk Road in a Manhattan court, and he has filed a claim on seized bitcoins valued at over $20 million.