Bitcoin.org Hit With DDoS Attack, Bitcoin Demanded as Ransom

Shortly after being entwined in a legal decision in the U.K., the Bitcoin.org website has faced another battle, this time on the technical front.

According to the site's pseudonymous operator, Cobra, Bitcoin.org was hit with an "absolutely massive" distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. CoinDesk was able to access the site without issue.

Decrypt reported on Monday that attackers had demanded 0.5 bitcoin ($17,012 at the time) to have the site's services and operations restored to normal.

CoinDesk attempted to contact Cobra to discuss the issue but did not hear back by press time.

DDoS is a type of cyber attack that targets a site's host or its infrastructure by flooding the host with request traffic that then overwhelms the system and renders it inoperable.

The attack is the latest development for the site, which is designed to educate and instruct others on how to buy and sell the crypto.

Last week, London's High Court awarded nChain Chief Scientist Craig Wright a default judgment because Cobra, not wishing to reveal their true identity, decided not to show. The court ruled Bitcoin.org must discontinue hosting its copy of the Bitcoin white paper.