Large-Scale Cyberattacks Plague Cryptocurrency Industry in 2023
In 2023, the cryptocurrency industry experienced a wave of large-scale cyberattacks resulting in over $1 billion being stolen. The attacks intensified towards the end of the year, coinciding with the market’s recovery following a decline in 2022. Decentralized financial protocols and crypto platforms were among the primary targets of these significant hacks.
Major Hacks in 2023
- Mixin: The largest hack of the year amounting to $200 million. In September 2023, the Mixin platform suffered a $200 million loss due to a hack on their cloud service. Despite promises of compensation for users, the stolen funds were never returned. (Source: source)
- Euler Finance: Hacking of $197 million with an unexpected turn. Euler Finance faced a substantial loss of nearly $200 million in March. However, a few weeks after the attack, almost half of the stolen funds were returned to the platform along with an apologetic note. (Source: source)
- Poloniex: Theft exceeding $100 million. In November, the Poloniex exchange suffered a loss surpassing $100 million. The cryptocurrency’s owner, Justin Sun, pledged complete compensation for the losses and even offered a $10 million reward to the hackers for returning the funds. (Source: source)
- Multichain: A rug-pull of $125 million in July. Multichain reported suspicious transactions amounting to $125 million, leading to the arrest of their CEO in China and ultimately the project’s closure. (Source: source)
- Atomic Wallet: Hacking of $35 million. A hacking incident in June resulted in a loss of $35 million for the ATOMIC Wallet crypto platform. Further investigations traced the attack back to the Lazarus group. (Source: source)
- Coinex: Theft of $70 million. In September, the Coinex cryptocurrency exchange lost an estimated $70 million, suspected to be the work
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