The Dark Side of Cryptocurrency!! What do you know?
One of the biggest selling points of cryptocurrencies is their security features powered by cryptography. However, this does not make them immune to external threats such as phishing attacks, malware, and wallet vulnerabilities. These attacks cause significant financial losses more frequently than the community expects.
The good news is that the total amount of funds stolen from cryptocurrency platforms fell by more than 50% in 2023 compared to 2022, according to data from on-chain analytics firm Chainaanalysis. However, this decline coincides with a surge in the number of individuals. Hacking incident.
While the crypto industry continues to evolve and find ways to address these risks, this article explores some of the largest attacks that have had a profound impact on this emerging industry.
Ronin Bridge: $635 million
The largest cryptocurrency theft occurred in March 2022, targeting the Ronin Network bridge (part of the Axie Infinity blockchain). The attackers stole assets worth a total of $625 million, including Ethereum and the USDC stablecoin. U.S. officials blamed the incident on the North Korean-backed Lazarus Group. A month later, Binance recovered $5.8 million in stolen funds. As of March 2024, this remains the largest cryptocurrency hack in history.
Poly Network: US$600 million
Next on the list is Poly Network. The blockchain was hacked in August 2021 due to a vulnerability. Hackers stole $600 million. The developer took to social media to plead with the hackers to return the funds. Amazingly, the hackers obliged and returned $300 million within 48 hours. Interestingly, the hackers pointed out that the attack was just for fun.
BNB Bridge: $570 million
In October 2022, hackers targeted Binance BNB Bridge and stole $570 million. The attack stemmed from a smart contract bug in BSC Token Hub that allowed the creation and withdrawal of an additional 2 million BNB tokens.
Coincheck: $534 million
Cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck was hacked in 2018. Attackers stole 560 million NEM tokens, worth approximately $534 million at the time, from the platform’s hot wallets. There have been no reports so far on who was behind the attack.
Mt. Gox: $460 million
The notorious Mt. Gox exchange was hacked multiple times between 2011 and 2014. The cumulative losses from these hacks were worth $460 million. In the first hack, the attacker was able to manipulate the price of Bitcoin on the platform and managed to obtain approximately 2,000 BTC. Various measures were taken to strengthen the security of the platform, but to no avail. Later, an investigation into the 2014 attack revealed that the criminals used unencrypted private keys stolen in 2011. This quickly sparked concerns that the attacks could be the work of insiders.
FTX: $415 million
The controversial FTX exchange also came under attack when it filed for bankruptcy in 2022. Surprisingly, the attack occurred just hours after the official filing. The attackers managed to get away with $415 million. Prosecutors charged three people following an investigation into the attack. Criminals reportedly orchestrated a SIM swap attack against FTX insiders, allowing them to access funds.
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