Indian Bitcoin Exchange Unocoin Blocks User Accounts Citing DNS Woes

Unocoin, an Indian bitcoin exchange that facilitates the country’s users to buy, sell and store bitcoins has blocked access to user accounts.

The drastic move is a “temporary” measure, the bitcoin startup adds, noting that it is facing a “DNS resolution issue” since the early hours of November 3, Indian time.

An email sent out to customers read:

Please note that due to a DNS resolution issue that Unocoin.com is facing since 3rd November 2016 morning, the access to Unocoin.com accounts are temporarily restricted. We shall update you shortly once we resume to normal. Due to the same reason, the emails sent to [email protected]  or [email protected] may not reach us. Please do not login into your Unocoin during period as the website you may be accessing may not be that of real Unocoin.

A quick lookup of the domain shows:

While the email did not address any scenario of wallet compromises, Unocoin pushed a public message via social media in a move to assure customers that their wallets are safe.

Details of the security-based disruption resulting in customers’ access to their bitcoin wallets are currently limited and CCN.com has reached out to Unocoin for comment. While it’s merely speculation at this time, it is plausible that the incident could be the work of an external malicious actor looking to gain access to user accounts, which would explain Unocoin’s move to block all user accounts as a temporary measure. As the email alert states: “Please do not login into your Unocoin during the period as the website you may be accessing may not be that of real Unocoin.”

With today’s unfortunate security lapse, Unocoin is having a particularly memorable year in 2016. Most notably, the bitcoin exchange recently announced a Pre-Series A funding round where a mix of domestic and foreign investors raised $1.5 million. The figure represents the highest amount raised for any bitcoin or digital currency venture in the country.

Developing…

This story will be updated when CCN.com hears from Unocoin. A representative for the exchange was unavailable at the time of publishing.

Image from Shutterstock.