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BitGo

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BitGo
HeadquartersPalo Alto, CA
ServicesBitcoin / Blockchain Security Platform API's
URLhttps://www.bitgo.com

BitGo is a Blockchain security company.[1][2] It is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It was founded in 2013 by Mike Belshe[3] and Ben Davenport.

Services

The company offers a multisignature bitcoin wallet service.[4] In January 2015 BitGo announced the general availability of their Platform API, allowing developers to fully leverage the enterprise grade security features of BitGo's multisig HD wallet in their own applications.[5] The following month the company bought an insurance policy from XL Catlin against theft from its wallets.[6] The February 25, 2015 BitBeat column from The Wall Street Journal described the policy as "a first for the digital currency industry that could pave the way for companies to provide greater assurances to customers that their bitcoins are safe."[7]

In June 2015 the company launched the Verified by BitGo program, a "proof of reserve" service for bitcoin companies.[8][9][10][11][12] In October 2015 the company published an open protocol for sharing keys between bitcoin service companies called the "Key Recovery Service".[13] Futures trader of the CME Group is teaming up with BitGo and Alphapoint to develop a Blockchain gold solution for the UK’s Royal Mint.[14] In October 2017, BitGo added Civic‘s know-your-customer (KYC) services to its Royal Mint Gold (RMG) wallets.[15]

Funding

In June 2014 the company received US$12 million in venture capital funding led by Redpoint Ventures.[16][17][18][19]

Bitfinex Hack

Main article: Bitfinex hack

On August 2, 2016, more than $60,000,000 worth of bitcoin was stolen from Bitfinex, one of the world's largest digital currency exchanges.[20] Announced in 2015, Bitfinex and BitGo created a system whereby multi-signature wallets, those where keys are divided among a number of owners to manage risk, would be provided to each customer. The companies sought to find an alternative to the standard process used by exchanges at the time that saw customer funds co-mingled in larger offline wallets and connected or "hot" wallets used to meet liquidity demands. Rather, each Bitfinex user has their own set of keys created on the platform, using a 2-of-3 key arrangement whereby Bitfinex held two of the keys (including one offline) and BitGo used the third to co-sign transactions.

In order to withdraw such a large amount of funds, BitGo would likely have had to sign off on those transactions.[21] It is likely that the hacker obtained the signing key of Bitfinex and started sending withdrawal signing requests to BitGo, which blindly processed the transactions without further checks. BitFinex representative Zane Tackett also confirmed this on social media.[22]

References

  1. ^ KING 5 News (January 20, 2014). "Seattle entrepreneur mines Bitcoin phenomenon". KING-TV.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Robert McMillan (April 9, 2014). "A Hack That Makes Bitcoins a Whole Lot Harder to Steal". Wired.
  3. ^ "yBitcoin.com / Introducing the Future of Money". ybitcoin.com. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  4. ^ Danny Bradbury (December 19, 2013). "BitGo Safe Aims to Secure Bitcoin Wallets With Multi-Signature Transactions". CoinDesk.
  5. ^ Andrew, DeSantis. "BitGo Launches Platform API Opening Its Bitcoin Security Infrastructure to the Masses". Bitcoin Magazine.
  6. ^ Wanda Carruthers. "BitGo Unleashes FDIC-like Insurance Ushering in a New Era of Bitcoin Security". Bitcoin Magazine.
  7. ^ Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna (February 25, 2015). "BitBeat: BitGo Adds Comprehensive Insurance to Its Services". The Wall Street Journal.
  8. ^ Laura Shin (June 30, 2015). "BitGo Launches Verisign-Like Certificate To Prove Solvency For Bitcoin Companies". Forbes.
  9. ^ Pete Rizzo (June 30, 2015). "BitGo Launches New Financial Transparency Service". CoinDesk.
  10. ^ Jacob Donnelly (June 30, 2015). "BitGo Announces Launch of Solvency Proofs Verified by BitGo". Bitcoin Magazine.
  11. ^ Pete Rizzo (March 31, 2015). "BitGo Names New CEO in Leadership Shake-Up". CoinDesk.
  12. ^ Kim-Mai Cutler (May 28, 2014). "Ben Davenport, One Of Facebook Messenger's Creators, Joins Bitcoin Startup BitGo As CPO". TechCrunch. AOL.
  13. ^ "BitGo Unveils Open-Source Bitcoin Key Recovery Service". CoinTelegraph. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
  14. ^ "Royal Mint Blockchain Gold Project Gets BitGo, Alphapoint As Partners". Cointelegraph. 12 April 2017.
  15. ^ "BitGo to Use Civic ID Service for Royal Mint's Digital Gold Trial - CoinDesk". CoinDesk. 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  16. ^ Dara Kerr (June 16, 2014). "Bitcoin security platform BitGo raises $12M in funding". CNET. CBS Interactive.
  17. ^ Perianne Boring (June 16, 2014). "BitGo Raises $12Mil, Draws Attention of Institutional Investors". Forbes.
  18. ^ Kim-Mai Cutler (June 16, 2014). "BitGo Raises $12M Led By Redpoint For Multi-Signature Bitcoin Wallets, Services". TechCrunch. AOL.
  19. ^ Michael J. Casey (June 16, 2014). "Bitcoin Security Startup BitGo Gets More Funds; Ex-Verisign CEO Joins Team". The Wall Street Journal.
  20. ^ "Bitfinex Reports Security Breach, Bitcoin Price Slumps". Cointelegraph. 2 August 2016.
  21. ^ "The Bitfinex Bitcoin Hack: What We Know (And Don't Know)". News Article. CoinDesk. 2016-08-03.
  22. ^ "Bitfinex hack raises concerns over multisig technology". News Article. CoinFox. 2016-08-03.
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