(USA Today) — After being made fun of by comedian Jimmy Fallon, bitcoin operator BitStamp may have gotten the last laugh.
BitStamp, the world’s third-largest bitcoin exchange, saved its reputation on Friday by reopening for business within a week of losing upward of $5 million worth of bitcoin to a security breach.
A letter from BitStamp CEO Nejc Kodrič posted on the newly launched site promises that the new service will be “safer and more secure than ever,” including new cloud support from Amazon.
Kodrič celebrated the relaunch by tweeting to comedian Jimmy Fallon.
Fallon joked about BitStamp this week, saying, “If you’re not safe to keep your money in a Slovenian bitcoin exchange, where can you keep your money?”
Hey @jimmyfallon good news. Turns out you CAN keep your bitcoin in a Slovenian exchange. @Bitstamp is open for business and better than ever
— Nejc Kodrič (@nejc_kodric) January 9, 2015
Kodrič also reiterated his earlier promise that any bitcoin held with BitStamp prior to the suspension of services will be “fully honored.”
Slovenia-based BitStamp suspended operations on Jan. 5 after discovering some 19,000 bitcoins, worth about $5.4 million, had been lost to a security breach.
BitStamp sought to reassure customers about the breach by saying the lost cybercoins represent “a small fraction of Bitstamp’s total bitcoin reserves,” and by promising to reopen within 48 hours.
The relaunch took longer than expected, however, causing some consternation among bitcoin enthusiasts.
Kodrič attributed the delay to efforts to rebuild and improve the service.
Bitcoin investors have been skittish since the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, collapsed last year after hackers allegedly stole 850,000 bitcoin, worth close to $450 million. The Japan-based exchange has since been accused of mishandling customers’ accounts, leading to investigations in both Japan and the U.S.
In the wake of Mt. Gox, the controversial cybercurrency took a severe price beating. It has been blasted as the worst investment of 2014 after closing 2014 at $319.70 per bitcoin, down a whopping 58% from the start of the year.
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