Tenth Place | Mixin Network Hacked: $200 million (2023)
Mixin Network is a peer-to-peer cross-chain trading network used for cryptocurrency transfers. However, in September 2023, hackers exploited a database vulnerability in the cloud service provider to infiltrate the network, successfully stealing about $200 million in BTC, ETH, and USDT.
This attack exposed the security vulnerabilities of cloud infrastructure, making Mixin Network one of the most severe hacking incidents of 2023.
.
Ninth Place | DMM Bitcoin Hacked: $305 million (2024)
In May 2024, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin was hacked, and hackers stole 4,500 bitcoins, valued at approximately $305 million at the time.
As of November 2, 2024, the specific methods of this attack have not been clarified, but it is widely speculated that the North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group is likely the mastermind behind it.
.
Eighth Place | Wormhole Hacked: $325 million (2022)
In February 2022, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Wormhole was hacked, with hackers successfully stealing $325 million. The key vulnerability in this attack originated from an update in the GitHub code repository that had not yet been formally deployed to the mainnet, resulting in it being discovered and exploited by hackers.
As a well-known cross-chain bridge, Wormhole ultimately could not recover the stolen funds and had to cover the financial gap themselves. This incident also became the largest hack in the history of the Solana ecosystem, with approximately $47 million stolen in SOL tokens.
.
Seventh Place | Mt. Gox Hacked: $473 million (2014)
The world's first major cryptocurrency hacking incident occurred in 2011 when the exchange Mt. Gox was hacked, resulting in a loss of 25,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $400,000. At that time, Mt. Gox controlled nearly 70% of global bitcoin transactions, having a far-reaching impact.
However, this did not mark the end of the attacks. By 2014, Mt. Gox was again severely impacted, with hackers stealing about 650,000 user bitcoins and 100,000 bitcoins from the exchange itself, then valued at approximately $473 million, equivalent to 7% of the global bitcoin supply at the time.
Initially, the whereabouts of these bitcoins were a mystery, but subsequent investigations revealed that they had already been gradually transferred by hackers from Mt. Gox's hot wallet to different wallet addresses. This incident not only severely undermined market confidence but also became one of the most representative security disasters in cryptocurrency trading history.
.
Sixth Place | FTX Hacked: $477 million (2022)
In November 2022, FTX, once a leader in the cryptocurrency industry, announced bankruptcy. On the same day it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, hackers seized the opportunity to invade and stole over $477 million in cryptocurrency, causing many users' FTX.com and FTX US wallet balances to instantly drop to zero.
FTX later issued a notice on their Telegram channel, confirming a hacker attack and warning users: "FTX has been hacked, the FTX app contains malware, please delete it immediately! The chat function remains open, please do not go to the official FTX website to avoid downloading trojan viruses."
In 2024, investigative reports revealed that a SIM swapping scam group had successfully infiltrated FTX employee accounts and stolen millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, bringing this hack back into the spotlight.
.
Fifth Place | Coincheck Hacked: $532 million (2018)
In January 2018, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck was hacked, with hackers successfully stealing $532 million (approximately 523 million NEM coins). The vulnerability in this attack came from the hot wallet, which is more vulnerable to hackers due to its long-term connection to the internet compared to the more secure cold wallet.
At that time, the scale of the hack on Coincheck even surpassed that of the infamous Mt. Gox hack. Lon Wong, president of the NEM Foundation, described this incident as "the largest theft in history."
Despite the heavy losses, Coincheck ultimately survived and was acquired by the Japanese financial services company Monex Group a few months later to continue operations.
.
Fourth Place | Binance BNB Bridge Hacked: $569 million (2022)
In October 2022, hackers attacked Binance BNB Bridge, successfully stealing approximately $570 million. The hackers exploited a vulnerability in the BSC Token Hub cross-chain bridge to forge transactions and withdraw 2 million BNB.
This incident once again exposed the security risks of smart contracts, highlighting that cross-chain bridges remain high-risk targets for hacker attacks.
.
Third Place | Poly Network Hacked: $611 million (2021)
In August 2021, a hacker exploited a vulnerability in the Poly Network DeFi platform, successfully stealing over $600 million. After the incident, the development team publicly appealed through social media for the hacker to return the funds, unexpectedly, the hacker began cooperating and returned $300 million within just two days.
The hacker later claimed that the attack was purely for "fun" or as a technical challenge.
Second Place | Ronin Network Hacked: $625 million (2022)
In March 2022, hackers attacked Ronin Network, the platform supporting the Axie Infinity blockchain game. The hackers successfully stole $625 million in Ethereum (ETH) and USDC stablecoin, becoming one of the largest hacking cases in cryptocurrency history.
Investigations show that this attack is related to the North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group. Sky Mavis (the developer of Axie Infinity) recovered $5.7 million a month later, but compared to the total amount stolen, it was still a drop in the bucket.
First Place | Bybit Exchange Hacked: $1.46 billion (2025)
On the evening of February 21, 2025, the Bybit exchange was hacked, with hackers targeting Bybit's Ethereum multi-signature cold wallet and successfully stealing a massive $1.46 billion, becoming the largest cybersecurity incident in the first quarter of 2025.
This incident also set the record for the highest amount hacked in the history of the cryptocurrency sphere!
