$56 million stolen from leading Bitcoin mining pool

Reports have emerged confirming that Nicehash, one of the world's most popular Bitcoin mining tools, has been breached by cyber crooks.

According to a report posted to Twitter, the website was attacked overnight, and around $56 million worth of Bitcoin was taken.

Although there isn't a great deal of information about how the hack happened, it's believed that 4,700+ BTC has gone missing as a result of the breach.

NiceHash's Bitcoin mining tools are also currently offline, supposedly as the company rushes to fix damage caused by the unknown cyber attackers.

As Bitcoin has grown over the last few years, the website has become a popular tool for people looking to mine their coins.

One of the main attractions of the website is that it's easy to set up and use. You just have to download an application, and then you can start mining.

Users have been flooding to the internet to slam the attack. Many of them have said their bitcoins have mysteriously made their way into a wallet following the attack.

As of Wednesday, there are 4736 bitcoins in the wallet, and they are worth tens of millions of dollars. NiceHash hasn't released any information about the hackers.

Technology website Guru3D reports that the website has been displaying a maintenance notification all day. Experts believe it's one of the biggest hacks to happen on such a service.

NiceHash's CEO has released a statement confirming the hack, saying: "Unfortunately, there has been a security breach involving NiceHash website. We are currently investigating the nature of the incident and, as a result, we are stopping all operations for the next 24 hours.

"Importantly, our payment system was compromised and the contents of the NiceHash Bitcoin wallet have been stolen. We are working to verify the precise number of BTC taken.

"Clearly, this is a matter of deep concern and we are working hard to rectify the matter in the coming days.

"In addition to undertaking our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are co-operating with them as a matter of urgency."

The incident demonstrates that, while the blockchain technology that Bitcoin is built on may be very difficult to hack, third parties are still vulnerable.