A couple of news outlets are reporting a big yuletide heist of Dogecoins, though accounts differ on the amount stolen.
BusinessInsider reports “at least 11 million” stolen, while ABC News puts the number at 21 million.
The Dogecoins were stolen from Dogewallet, and the current value at the high-end estimate of the missing coins is about $12,000. Dogewallet has said it would compensate Dogecoin holders whose wallets were swiped.
From Dogewallet: "...the attack originated from the hacker gaining access to our filesystem and modifying the send/receive page to send to a static address. We're currently reviewing logs for information. The site is shut down right now.”
The post also warned Dogecoin holders to keep their money in offline wallets as a security precaution.
Dogecoins were initially created as something of a joke, but the strength of the converging memes was too strong, and people started buying the things.
And now, apparently, people have begun stealing them, too. Welcome to currency legitimacy, Doge.
Dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus told ABC News that new security protocols would be put in place next month.
With Bitcoin’s value in the $700 range, and with Litecoin even trading for $20-plus, Dogecoin has found a niche for small purchases and even tips on sites such as Reddit.
"People are trading coins for small purchases, like in an online game where you can purchase a different set of armor," co-founder Jackson Palmer told ABC News. "I think that's a really good place [for Dogecoin]."