Key Highlights:
- Crypto hack in the industry are becoming more rampant;
- Top ten hacks by our assessment,
- Remain security aware to avoid becoming a victim.
Image Source: Google Images
Cryptocurrencies have been around for over a decade, but they only gained mainstream attention in the past few years. This has given hackers a lot of opportunities to exploit vulnerabilities in the systems and steal cryptocurrencies. In this article, we take a look at some of the biggest crypto hacks of all time.
The Mt. Gox Hack in 2014
Image Source: Fortune
Mt. Gox was the largest and most popular Bitcoin exchange in the world, handling 70% of all Bitcoin transactions at one point. The exchange suffered one of the most historic hacks of all time. Mt. Gox reportedly lost 750,000 BTC belonging to its customers and 100,000 of its own BTC assets. With Bitcoin trading at around $600 at the time, this crypto hack saw about $510,000 stolen by hackers.
Following the hack, Mt. Gox became one of the most well-known cautionary tales in the history of the cryptocurrency industry. Sadly, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy in early 2018.
The Bitfinex Crypto Hack in 2016
The cryptocurrency markets were experiencing a period of uncertainty and volatility, and many investors feared that prices could plummet at any time. This was bad news for Bitfinex, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Shortly after the market crash of November 2017, the company announced that it had lost nearly $70 million to hackers, and it requested a bailout from investors. Luckily, it was able to raise the capital it needed to stay afloat and avoid bankruptcy. Fortunately, also, the perpetrators of the crypto hack were reportedly apprehended in early 2022.
Source: US Justice Department
The Ethereum Classic (ETC) Fork in 2016
Ethereum was hit by a huge theft known as “The DAO Attack.” Hackers managed to steal about $60 million worth of ETH from a smart contract called The DAO. In response, the developers of Ethereum launched a hard fork to recover the stolen funds and create a new blockchain called Ethereum Classic. This split created two different versions of Ethereum, each with its own history, community, and value.
Image Source: Google Images
The Parity Wallet Hack in July 2017
Users of the Parity Ethereum wallet lost access to $280 million in ETH because of a security bug in the system. The company later released an update that fixed the problem and allowed users to restore their tokens to their wallets. It’s never safe to store your coins on an exchange or in a wallet that you control yourself. You should always keep your coins in a safe place that is disconnected from the internet and your own computer, and only log in when you need to transfer or withdraw your funds.
The Binance Hack in 2019
Image Source: CNBC
Binance was targeted by hackers, who stole about $40 million worth of cryptocurrency from the exchange’s hot wallet. The attack was quickly detected and thwarted by the exchange’s support team, but the damage had already been done. Fortunately, the hackers weren’t able to steal all of the funds in the exchange’s hot wallet, so most of the stolen funds were eventually recovered.
The Cryptopia Hack in 2019
Image Source: Coinpedia
New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia was reportedly hacked by a group claiming to be associated with North Korea. Roughly $16 million in digital tokens were stolen during the attack, which was quickly detected and shut down by the exchange’s security team. In response to the hack, Cryptopia announced that it would be shutting down operations indefinitely while it worked to recover from the attack and secure its platform for future customers.
The QuadrigaCX Controversy in 2019
This one has a weird kind of twist to it considering it wasn’t really a hack but investors lost their funds. Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX filed for creditor protection after it was reported that its founder had died and left the company without access to the cryptocurrencies that it holds for its customers.
While the specifics of the situation are still unclear, the legal battle surrounding QuadrigaCX has already caused significant delays in the repatriation of its users’ funds. Many in the market believe the death of the CEO was simply an exit scam to make away with investors’ funds.
Moving forward, it’s expected that QuadrigaCX will continue to face challenges as it attempts to recover the lost assets of its deceased founder and secure the long-term financial future of its remaining customers.
The KuCoin Hack in 2020
Image Source: Google Images
In September 2020, the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin disclosed that $275 million worth of cryptocurrency, including $127 million in ERC20 tokens used in Ethereum smart contracts, had been illicitly filtered from the platform. The exchange’s CEO, Johnny Lyu, disclosed that hackers had gained the private keys to its hot wallets.
According to the company’s statement in February 2021, the majority of the stolen tokens were found, and the remaining 16% of stolen monies was covered by KuCoin’s insurance, resulting in payment to all consumers.
Despite the theft, the CoinMarketCap website lists KuCoin as the sixth most popular and largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The Ronin Network Hack in 2021
The March 2022 raid on Ronin Network, which allows users of the video game Axie Infinity to trade in-game tokens for other cryptocurrencies, goes on record as the largest cryptocurrency theft ever, according to a calculation based on the worth of the stolen crypto assets at the time they were taken.
On March 30, the network disclosed that a hacker had transferred 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5 million USDC to their own wallets after stealing the private keys needed to authenticate transactions. This values the heist at $621 million using the exchange rate in effect at the time.
Image Source: egamers.io
The FTX Hack in 2022
Image Source: Fox Business
This list will likely be incomplete for many readers without the mention of the historic FTX collapse. Just as it filed for bankruptcy in November, FTX was reportedly hacked, with the hackers carting away $372 million. The hack was confirmed the following day by FTX CEO John Jay Ray III, who said the company had reported the issue to the relevant authorities.
Final Word
The primary aim of this article is to draw the reader’s attention to some of the most unfortunate events in the crypto space and crypto hack happen. We also take this time to advise our readers to pay more attention to their crypto asset security, opting for personal (offline) custody if possible. Unfortunately, due to the nature of cryptocurrencies and crypto companies, crypto hacks will remain a recurring issue for the foreseeable future.
