THE BIGGEST CRYPTO HACKS IN RECENT HISTORY
Blockchain projects are very secure and cannot be hacked, is that true? That assertion would be heavily contested by recent events, as there have been back-to-back large-scale attacks on various cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms. Has this contributed to the general mistrust in making investments in the market? Without a doubt, sure. But did our technological elders not argue that these projects were safe? That misconception, however, has been debunked. According to Chainanalysis, by November 2022, over $1.6 billion had already been stolen from users through hacks. This has been a persistent source of worry for African crypto users, as every few months, a new hack makes the news. To add fuel to that fire, letās look at some of the biggest crypto hacking scandals that have shown the systemās vulnerabilities in efficiently securing digital assets.
1. THE MT. GOX HACK
It is impossible to begin this list without going down memory lane to the earlier and simpler days in the crypto world. How back are we going? As far back as 2011, when the first major crypto hack took place, A total of 25,000 bitcoins, worth approximately $400,000, were lost by Mt. Gox. Once again in 2014, the exchange lost 750,000 bitcoins worth around $473 million.
At first, there was no clear reason for the hacks, but upon further investigation, it was revealed that the coins were stolen from the company's hot wallet, which is a live cryptocurrency wallet and not as secure as a cold offline wallet.
2. THE COINCHECK HACK
Coincheck once held the honor of being the biggest digital currency theft victim in history. In 2018, it announced that an estimated $534 million worth of NEM coins had been stolen from its hot wallet. As expected, the value of NEM dropped by 20% once word got out, but the Japanese exchange survived the hack and continued to operate. A Japanese financial services company by the name of Monex Group bought Coincheck some months later.
3. THE BINANCE HACK
In October 2022, cryptoās overlords were hacked to the tune of $570 million. According to Investopedia, a cross-chain bridge, the BSC Token Hub, was exploited by hackers, resulting in the creation of extra Binance Coins (BNB) and the withdrawal of 2 million BNB tokens. It should be noted that BNB is the native token of the crypto exchange.
4. THE FTX HACK
In November 2022, FTX declared bankruptcy. Prior to that time, FTX was one of the most powerful exchanges in the crypto industry, but once they declared bankruptcy, it all came crashing down. More than $600 million was stolen from its crypto wallets. The exchange confirmed the hack on its Telegram channel, and its General Counsel Ryne Miller tried to diffuse the situation by assuring customers that the exchange was making every effort to secure all stolen assets.
5. THE RONIN NETWORK HACK
The current holder of the title of "largest cryptocurrency hack" is the Ronin Network. In March 2022, hackers breached the network and stole around $625 million worth of USDC stablecoin and Ethereum. US officials speculated that a North Korean state-backed hacking collective, the Lazarus Group, was responsible for the hack.
It is important for crypto users to remain vigilant, as beloved exchanges and networks can be compromised at any time.
Education about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is essential to preventing a repeat of the aforementioned hacking scandals.
Have you been a victim of a crypto hack before? You can share your personal experiences in the comment section.