Author: Anfei Source: blockcast

The price of cryptocurrency began to fall sharply on Friday night, with a downward trend It lasts until midday Saturday at the time of writing. The main reason for the decline is believed to be related to the hacking of Bybit Exchange, which was hit by a hacker worth US$1.46 billion on the evening of February 21, 2025, becoming the largest security in the industry in the first quarter of 2025. One of the vulnerabilities, the attack locked in one of the exchange's Ethereum multi-sign cold wallets.

This incident was also labeled as one of the largest hackers in the history of cryptocurrency exchanges, occupying crypto in 2024 More than 50% of the total value loss of the money market, the amount of losses caused by hackers in cryptocurrency market reached US$2.2 billion in 2024, up from US$1.8 billion in 2023. The incident also led to a liquidation of about US$100 million in the market, further leading to a sharp decline in the value of major cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin (BTC) and ETH (ETH) showed a significant decline after the message was released, with Ethereum less than 4 hours after the hacker attack was confirmed. It fell nearly 4%. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said the exchange detected unauthorized activity of its Ether cold wallet, which was attacked during its transfer to the hot wallet. Hackers manipulate transactions by covering up transactions to make them look legitimate, but they contain malicious code that changes the logic of the wallet’s smart contract, thus enabling the steal of funds.

Blockchain analysts report that more than $1 billion in funds flowed out of Bybit, a considerable portion of assets were transferred and sold, which triggered the crypto community's alarm. The stolen funds are mainly Ether and pledged Ether (stETH and mETH), and are scattered to multiple addresses to escape tracking. Hackers have begun to exchange stolen funds for other Ethereum tokens on decentralized exchanges. The security breach this time highlights concerns about the integration of cryptocurrencies with traditional financial institutions and the need for stronger regulation. It also emphasizes the vulnerability of even the so-called secure cold wallet (not connected to the internet). The incident sparked debate on centralization and decentralization in the cryptocurrency sector, with some viewing that a well-regulated market is crucial to preventing such large-scale losses.

Next this article will analyze in detail the largest cryptocurrency loss incidents caused by hacker attacks or security breaches,The following rankings are based on the amount of losses lost at the time of the attack, and the analysis covers the details of each incident, the method of the attack, the responsible party (publicly known), recycling, and the wide impact on the cryptocurrency industry. Sources include global information platforms, blockchain analytics reports and official announcements of affected entities.

1. Bybit Hacker (February 21, 2025, $1.46 billion)

Bybit hacker attack occurred on February 21, 2025, setting an all-time record of loss, hackers steal more than the exchange's ETH cold wallet $1.46 billion. The attack involves complex phishing technology, manipulating the signature interface to display a legitimate UI, and changing the underlying smart contract logic to transfer funds to unknown addresses. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed in X's post that only one ETH cold wallet was affected, other wallets were safe, withdrawals were carried out normally, claiming that even if the losses could not be recovered, the exchange was still able to pay, and the customer's assets were 1:1 reserved, this event Highlighting the loopholes in cold wallet management and Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe) multi-sign wallets.

2. Ronin Cyber ​​Hacker (March 2022, $625 million)

Ronin cyber hacking attack occurred in March 2022, involving attacking the side chain verification nodes of Axie Infinity games. The hacker controls four verification nodes, authorizes two unauthorized withdrawals, steals 173,600 Ether (approximately US$595 million) and 25.5 million USDC ($25.5 million), total loss of $625 million. The incident was attributed to the North Korean Lazarus Group, and Sky Mavis promised to compensate affected users and strengthen security measures.

3. Poly Network Hacker (August 2021, $611 million)

The Poly Network hacker attack occurred on August 10, 2021. The hacker used cross-chain bridge smart contract vulnerabilities to steal approximately $611 million in various assets, including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and other tokens, involving Ethereum and Binance Smart. Chain and Polygon. Tether Freezes $33 million USDT mitigated the losses, and after hacking, it negotiated with the platform to return most of the funds, but its identity was unknown.

4. Binance BNB Bridge Hacker (October 6, 2022, $569 million)

Binance BNB Bridge hacker attack occurred on October 6, 2022. The hacker took advantage of the vulnerability of the BNB smart chain cross-chain bridge to steal 2 million BNB tokens, with a total loss of approximately US$569 million. The attack involved forging proof to withdraw funds, Binance quickly suspended the bridging service and freezes some of the stolen funds, ultimately controlling the losses at about $100 million, and the rest of the funds were restored, and Binance provided bounty tracking hackers.

5. Coincheck Hacker (January 2018, $534 million)

Coincheck The hacker attack occurred on January 26, 2018. The hacker used a hot wallet vulnerability to steal 523 million NEM coins, with a total value of approximately US$534 million. At that time, the NEM coins were priced at about US$1.02. The funds were not recovered, and Coincheck used its own resources to compensate customers, and was later acquired by Monex Group in 2018.

6. Mt. Gox Hacker (2014, $473 million)

Mt . The Gox hacker attack occurred in 2014, where hackers stole nearly 750,000 customers and 100,000 exchange-owned Bitcoins, totaling 750,000 Bitcoins, which was worth about $473 million at the time, accounting for 7% of the total circulation, resulting in The exchange went bankrupt in 2014.

7. FTX Hacker (November 2022, $473 million)

FTX The hacker attack occurred after the bankruptcy filing on November 11, 2022. The unauthorized transaction caused the wallet to be hollowed out, with a loss of approximately US$473 million, mainly stablecoins, and was quickly converted into Ethereum.

8. Wormhole Hacker (February 2022, $320 million)

Wormhole hacking attack occurred on February 2, 2022. The hacker used a token bridge vulnerability between Ethereum and Solana to steal 120,000 wETH tokens with a total value of US$320 million, and all funds later Recovered, Wormhole offers a $10 million bounty.

9. DMM Bitcoin Hacking (May 31, 2024, $308 million)

DMM Bitcoin hacking attack occurred on May 31, 2024, with hackers stealing 4502.9 BTC, worth approximately 3.08 $100 million. According to the FBI and the Japan Police Agency (Joint Statement on December 23, 2024), North Korea TraderTraitor (a branch of the Lazarus Group) used social engineering attacks to disguise as LinkedIn recruiters and trick Ginco Inc. employees responsible for managing DMM transactions to download maliciously code, which in turn controls transaction requests, transfers funds to hacker wallets. DMM promises to compensate customers, but closed in December 2024 due to financial pressure.

10 . KuCoin Hacker (September 2020, $285 million)

KuCoin Hacker in 2020 On September 25, 2018, hackers stole $285 million in various cryptocurrency assets. The attack involved a hot wallet vulnerability, KuCoin collaborated with law enforcement and blockchain companies to recover about $240 million and lost $45 million in the remaining losses, KuCoin Compensate users through insurance and own funds.