Since the arrival of cryptocurrencies, it caught worldwide eyeballs from being proposed as an alternative currency and digital money to becoming one of the lucrative investment choices.

Apart from regular users, it also caught the eyeballs of hackers and cyber attackers. As a result, several crypto exchanges, crypto companies, blockchain networks, and others face crypto hack attacks from time to time.

So, how many crypto hacks usually occur in a year? How much amount has been lost to crypto hacks? What are the popular types of hacks?

Let’s find out all these in this mega crypto hacks report:

Key Insights and Stats

  • In 2023 alone, $2.35 billion was lost in 344 crypto hack attacks. That is $278.23K lost every hour due to crypto hacks this year.
  • In 2022, crypto hacks reached an all-time high of $3.5 Billion stolen in 284 heist incidents.
  • Since 2011 to till date, Crypto companies and exchanges have lost a total amount of $13.09 billion in 1307 incidents.
  • Since 2011, about 202 crypto exchanges have been hacked and lost $4.13 billion in total.
  • 2018 was the worst for crypto exchanges as they collectively lost $1.1 Billion to hacking and theft incidents.
  • There is also a significant rise in DeFi or decentralized finance hacks – the number stands at 93 and 99 for 2022 & 2023, respectively, leading to a collective loss of $1.137 billion.
  • Talking about lost Bitcoin and Ethereum, since 2011, there has been a total loss of 1,454,762 BTC and 1,175,082 ETH to different hacks. If you look at these numbers from today’s BTC & ETH price points, the numbers will stand at $40.27 billion and $1.93 billion, respectively. 
  • Contract vulnerability and flash loan attacks are two common hacks, leading to a cumulative loss of $2.83 billion since 2011.

Daily Global Crypto Heist Monitor

Cryptocurrency Hacks Tracker
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Top 10 Biggest Crypto Hacks

As per our findings, from 2011 to September 2023, a cumulative amount of $4.26 billion was lost in 10 of the biggest crypto hacks, ranging from Blockchain networks to crypto exchanges, etc.

These hacks are:

1. Ronin Network (Axie Infinity) – $625 Million

One of the biggest crypto hacks was noticed on 29 March 2022 when Ronin Network – A gaming-focused blockchain network, disclosed a loss of about $625 million. The platform was hacked for 173,600 ETH and 25,500,000 USDC. As per the Cointelegraph report, hackers managed to get access to private keys to validator nodes, resulting in a compromise of 5 validator notes that are required for approving a transaction.

2. Poly Network – $610 Million

On 10 August 2021, Poly Network was hit by a major attack, resulting in a loss of $610 million. As per the findings, the attacker exploited a vulnerability in Poly Networ’s code that allowed the attacker to transfer funds to their accounts. However, unlike many other hacks, the hacker returned all of the money after some dramatic incidents. Later, the platform promised a grant of $500,000 bounty for finding a flaw in the system along with a job offer.

3. BNB Smart Chain – $566 Million

On 6 October 2022, Binance Smart Chain became the victim of another hack attack that resulted in a loss of 2,000,000 BNB worth of $566 million at that time. As per the findings, the hacker exploited a vulnerability in the underlying code and managed to get $566 million to accounts on their chains.

4. Coincheck – $534 Million

On 26 January 2018, Coincheck, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service provider, was hacked. A total of 523,000,000 NEM coins were lost, valued at $534 million at that time. As per Coinmarketcap, Coincheck admitted that the hackers could get into their system due to inadequate security measures in place because of a shortage of employees at that time.

5. Mt Gox – $473 Million

Mt Gox has to be the most infamous crypto exchange hack in the history of cryptocurrencies. The incident occurred on 7 February 2014, leading to a loss of 850,000 Bitcoins, approximately valued at $473 million at that time. Many claim the hack was an inside job rather than any external cyber-attack. Ultimately, the company filed for bankruptcy in the Tokyo District Court and was ordered to liquidate in April 2014.

6. FTX – $415 Million

FTX is one of the latest crypto exchange hacks on January 17, 2023, resulting in a loss of $415 million. As per the reports, the bankruptcy-filed exchange lost about $323 Million in funds from its international exchange, while $90 million was stolen from its US platform.

7. Wormhole – $326 Million

On February 2, 2022, Wormhole – a blockchain cryptocurrency platform, was hacked for $326 million. As per the findings, the hacker minted and stole 120,000 wETH tokens on the Solana blockchain. Later, the hacker converted the tokens to 80,000 ETH and began to sell them off.

8. KuCoin – $281 Million

KuCoin – The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange was hacked on September 26, 2020, resulting in a loss of $281 million. As per the statement released by KuCoin, the exchange detected large withdrawals of BTC and ETH to an unknown wallet. But, there is no mention of how the hack occurred. However, the exchange faced a collective loss of 1,008 BTC, 11,543 ETH, 18,495,798 XRP, 26,733 LTC, and 999,160 USDT.

9. Gate.io – $234 Million

Popular cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io was hacked back on 21 April 2018, which led to a loss of $234 million. As per the findings, the exchange was attacked by North Korean hackers. However, initially, Gate.io hid the news from its customers and the public.

10. Euler Finance – $197 Million

On 13 March 2013, Euler Finance was hacked. The non-custodial DeFi protocol on Ethereum was hit by a flash loan attack that led to a loss of $197 million. However, after several weeks of the hack, the attacker, who goes by the name of Jacob, returned all the stolen funds and apologized through a series of encrypted messages.

Top 10 Biggest Crypto Exchanges Hacks

As per our findings, from 2011 to till date, a cumulative amount of $2.61 billion was lost in the 10 biggest crypto exchange hacks. These exchanges are:

1. Coincheck – $534 Million

One of the largest crypto exchanges in Japan – Coincheck, was hacked on 26 January 2018. The hack led to a loss of $534 million worth of virtual assets.

2. Mt Gox – $473 Million

Back on 7 February 2014, Mt Gox was the second biggest crypto exchange hack the world witnessed. Reportedly, the exchange lost an amount of $473 Million. Around that time, the exchange accounted for managing over 70% of all Bitcoin transactions. However, after the exchange lost about 850,000 Bitcoins, it filed for bankruptcy.

3. FTX – $415 Million

FTX is one of the recent crypto exchange hacks that occurred on 17 January 2023, leading to a loss of $415 million. However, the reason for the hack is still unknown, and the exchange later filed for bankruptcy.

4. KuCoin – $281 Million

KuCoin was hacked for $281 million on 26 September 2020. The hack came to notice after KuCoin’s latest internal security audit report. As per the statements, part of Bitcoin, ERC-20, and other tokens in KuCoin’s hot wallets were transferred out of the exchange.

5. Gate.io – $234 Million

Gate.io is another popular crypto exchange hacked for $234 million on 21 April 2018. As per the reports, the exchange was hacked by NK. However, the exchange remained silent on it and hid the news from the public and its customers.

6. BitMart –  $200 Million

On 5 December 2021, BitMart became the victim of an attack. As a result, the exchange lost $200 million or 21,195.73 ETH & 56,523.78 BNB. The incident took place after a hot wallet compromise that was hosted over the Ethereum and Binance smart chin blockchains. The hackers ran away with a mix of over 20 tokens that included different altcoins such as Binance coin, Safemoon, BSC-USD, etc.

7. BitGrail – $170 Million

On 12 December 2019, BitGrail was hacked. As per the report, the exchange lost $170 million to hackers. However, there is still no clarity on what led the hack incident to occur.

8. Maiar – $113 Million

On 5 June 2022, Maiar DEX was hacked and lost $113 million. As per the findings, the hack tool took place after hackers were able to exploit a smart contract bug in the Maiar DEX. Later, the developers took the DEX offline. However, it is still unclear if the Maiar team was able to recover the funds or not.

9. CoinBene – $100 Million

On 26 March 2019, CoinBene was hacked. Reportedly, the exchange lost around $100 million. However, there is no concrete information on how the hack occurred and what the exchange really did to recover the funds or if any funds were recovered.

10. Liquid – $90 Million

Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Liquid was hacked for $90 million on 19 August 2021. As per the reports, the exchange digital wallets were compromised, and the hackers were able to transfer the assets to four different wallets.

Methodology

To come up with this mega crypto hacks report, we collected data through multiple sources, went through several news articles, analyzed reports of individuals and third-party security research firms, and created a list of the biggest cryptocurrency hacks from the existence of cryptocurrency to January 2024.

We only included clear exploits by hackers. As a result, we did not include rug pulls, exit scams, or employee theft of funds.

Also, the data only displays the total amount lost to hacks before any recovery attempt. So, the actual lost amount for certain entries may vary.

For a full list of sources, please request access here.

If you use our report, don’t forget to link to The Money Mongers as the source.

Sources:

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Sudhir Khatwani
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