NiceHash

NiceHash is a Slovenian cryptocurrency hash power broker with an integrated marketplace that connects sellers of hashing power (miners) with buyers of hashing power using the sharing economy approach. The company was founded by Marko Kobal and Matjaž Škorjanc in 2014. USD$64 million were stolen from the company's customers in December 2017. The company is headquartered in Maribor, Slovenia.
Buyers rent computing (hashing) power through NiceHash's online platform. Sellers provide hashing power by connecting to the NiceHash marketplace with NiceHash's own mining software.
Business model.
Hashing power buyers.
Buyers select the crypto-currency that they want to mine, a pool on which they want to mine, set the price that they are willing to pay for it and place the order. Once the order is fulfilled by miners who are running NiceHash Miner on their machines, the buyer gets the crypto-currency from the pool. This means that buyers are not required to run complex mining operations themselves, and there is no capital investment in mining hardware required.
Hashing power sellers (miners).
Sellers or miners have to run NiceHash Miner 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 bitcoins 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 a fee from each group (buyers and sellers).
Service disruptions.
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 reimbursed the affected users through the Repayment program, and 100% of the stolen funds were reimbursed by December 16th 2020.
Controversies.
NiceHash's founder Matjaž Škorjanc is a creator of malware Mariposa botnet, which infected over 1 million computers with Butterfly (mariposa in Spanish) Bot. The goal of Butterfly Bot was to install itself on an uninfected PC, monitoring activity for passwords, bank credentials and credit cards. Slovenian police 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. The FBI has moved forward with new charges and arrest warrants against four suspects, including Matjaž Škorjanc.