Often presented as a secure means of payment, cryptocurrencies have nevertheless experienced some setbacks during their (brief) history. Here are 5 hacks that have made an impact in the digital asset industry.
No rest for hackers. In the first seven months of the year, hackers have already stolen 2 billion euros, according to Atlas VPN. And more than 80 attacks were identified during the first semester. A figure in net increase compared to the same period last year.
These hacks are nothing new. But as the crypto ecosystem grows, the intensity of attacks and their frequency increase. For the young crypto industry, these hacks represent a major challenge. Especially since even the heavyweights in the sector are not spared. From Bitfinex Poly Network, here is 5 hacks who made history.
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5. Bitfinex: 73.1 million euros
In 2016, Bitfinex was the benchmark cryptocurrency exchange on the market. So when his teams announced that hackers had infiltrated him before fleeing with 119756 bitcoins (is around 73.1million euros), the markets took a hit.
In total, the hack accounted for more than a third (36%) funds hosted on Bitfinex, a Hong Kong player. The result was therefore not long in coming. In the hours that followed, the price of bitcoin fell from 20%to finally stabilize at a floor price of 480 euros.
For 5 years, the stolen funds remained untraceable. Then in 2022, when the facts already seemed to belong to the past, an American couple was arrested for money laundering. Better: the authorities said they had found the stolen bitcoins. The money will be used to reimburse the victims of the hack in 2016.
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4. Binance: €101million
In early October 2022, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, came close to disaster. Hackers have managed to steal 2million BNBthe official currency of the platform, approximately 569million euros.
Concretely, the hackers used a security breach to create additional BNB. Then they transferred the funds to other blockchains. However, nearly 80% illicit funds could have been frozen immediately by Binance.
The worst has therefore been seen. And the pirates left with only 101million eurosaccording to information provided by Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance.
3. The Wormhole: 330 million euros
The Wormhole is a bridge, i.e. a service for sending funds between different blockchains using a smart contract. This protocol quickly became popular because it connects the Solana blockchain with other widely used blockchains, such as Ethereum, Polygon or Avalanche.
But on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, shortly before 10 p.m., the developers of The Wormhole warned users that an attack was in progress. Then the news broke: the hacker exploited a flaw in the code to walk away with 120,000 Ethereum tokensis around 330million euros at the time of the flight.
The developers tried to contact the fraudster to ask him to return the stolen funds. They offered him a reward of 10million euros change. But their request remained a dead letter. And the funds were never found.
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2. Ronin: 561 million euros
Ronin is a secondary blockchain of the Ethereum network, created by SkyMavis, the publisher of the very popular Axie Infinity, an online fighting game. On March 23, Ronin suffered one of the biggest thefts in crypto history.
The hackers took over 173600 Ethereum tokens and 25.5million USDC tokens, a dollar-backed stablecoin. Balance sheet? At the time of the heist, the loot was estimated at approximately 561million euros.
Several months later, the FBI and the company Chainalysis announced that they had recovered 30.4million euros flights during the hack. The rest of the funds and the authors of the hack currently remain untraceable.
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1. Poly Network: 610 million euros
The biggest crypto hack of all time happened in August 2021. Poly Network, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform announces that it was the victim of a hack. Loot amount: 610million euros.
In its communications, Poly Network urged the hacker to cooperate and return the stolen funds. Law enforcement in any country will consider this a major economic crime and you will be prosecuted, the company insisted.
A reaction that may seem naïve. And yet: shortly after, the hacker contacted Poly Network. At first, his intentions were not very clear. Maybe I’ll return some tokens or leave them there, he said in particular.
But after several exchanges, the one who now calls himself Mr. White Hat agreed to return the funds. He even claims to have exploited the flaw for the sole purpose of securing the funds before other hackers take advantage of them.
Poly Network has since stated that it has no intention of holding Mr. White Hat liable. The company also offered the hacker a job as head of security and a reward of 508000 euros for finding the loophole.
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