NiceHash
NiceHash is a global cryptocurrency hash power broker and cryptocurrency exchange with an open marketplace that connects sellers of hashing power (cryptominers) with buyers of hashing power using the sharing economy approach. The company provides software for cryptocurrency mining. The company was founded in 2014 by two Slovenian university students, Marko Kobal and Matjaž Škorjanc. The company is based in The British Virgin Islands and has offices in Maribor, Slovenia. NiceHash users are primarily video gamers who have powerful graphics cards (GPUs) suited to cryptocurrency mining. The company has over 2.5 million users in 190 countries worldwide as of  November 2021. History. NiceHash was founded in April 2014 by Matjaž Škorjanc, a former medical student turned computer programmer, and Marko Kobal. NiceHash's founder Matjaž Škorjanc is one of the creators of malware called Mariposa botnet, which infected over 1 million computers with Mariposa ( "Butterfly" in Spanish) Bot. The Slovenian National Police Force arrested Matjaž on charges of distributing the malware in 2010. Matjaž was found guilty and served four years and ten months in a Slovenian prison. On June 5, 2019, US law enforcement opened a case in the operations of the Mariposa (Butterfly Bot, BFBOT) malware gang . In 2019, The FBI moved forward with new charges and arrest warrants against four suspects, including Matjaž Škorjanc. Matjaž was detained in prison in Germany in 2019. Due to international law agreements on double jeopardy, he was released in 2020. On December 6, 2017, approximately 4,700 Bitcoins (US$64 million at the time of the hack) were stolen from NiceHash allegedly by a spear phishing attack. Due to the open and transparent nature of the blockchain, the security breach received an influx of attention as the stolen sum and movement of bitcoins were visible to anyone on the internet. On  December 21, 2017, Marko Kobal resigned as the CEO of NiceHash. On that day, the company also re-opened their marketplace after the December 6th hack. NiceHash announced that they had hired cyber security and implemented new security protocols after the incident. NiceHash said that affected users who made a claim by the deadline of December 16th 2020 had their funds reimbursed. On February 17, 2021 a North Korean hacker group (Lazarus) was indicted for the 2017 NiceHash attack. Business model. Hash power marketplace. NiceHash provides an open hash power marketplace where buyers can purchase computer power to add to  their mining pool or operations. Sellers (miners). Sellers or miners have to run NiceHash mining software and connect their mining hardware or just regular PCs to NiceHash stratum servers and to the buyer's order. Their hashing power is forwarded to the pool that the buyer has chosen for mining. For each valid share they submit, they get paid in bitcoin for the price that is determined by the current weighted average and refreshed each minute. This is all done automatically and the process does not require complex technical skills. In return for providing this service, NiceHash takes a percentage  or fee from each group (buyers and sellers). NiceHash opened a cryptocurrency exchange in May 2019, where miners and other traders of cryptocurrencies trade their mined coins to other cryptocurrencies or exchange to fiat currency. The platform lists 64 coins and tokens, and 80 trading pairs.