Cryptocurrencies are very well known all over the world because of their transparency as well as security. However, even if they are secure and safe, they are not away from any cybercriminal activities. Hughes’s experience manages to breach the security wall for the cryptocurrencies, making them not so utterly free of cyberattacks. Over time, many cryptocurrency exchanges have been targeted by malicious hackers, and their cryptos were stolen. Therefore, today we will pay attention to some of the massive cryptocurrency hacks in time history.
- MT.GOX 2011
The biggest ever cryptocurrency hack occurred with the most popular crypto exchange of all time back in 2010. MT.GOX was the largest cryptocurrency exchange which was located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange was launched in 2010, and it experienced the first hack by hackers in 2011. Almost all bitcoins worth $8.75 million were stolen in this hat, and it was then handling 70% of the total bitcoin transactions globally. Even though it promised to keep high security further, the hackers again managed to steal bitcoins at a larger scale in 2014. It suffered from another account attack in 2015, and at that time, bitcoin was worth US$615 million. It was stolen, and it was one of the most significant cryptocurrency breaches in the world.
- KuCoin 2020
It was recently discovered in the history of cryptocurrencies, and it was done on the cryptocurrency exchange, which is based in Singapore. This cryptocurrency exchange was founded back in 2013 and held multiple crypto coins. The most popular crypto coins held on the 16th are BTC, ETH, LITECOIN, and many more. Unfortunately, in September 2020, criminals managed to take bitcoins worth $281 million, and it was one of the biggest cryptocurrency hacks in history. Even though the exchange managed to block all the transactions quickly, the damage was already done.
- UPBIT 2019
Another largest cryptocurrency hack in history occurred in the UPBIT cryptocurrency exchange. It was founded back in 2017, and it is a cryptocurrency exchange operating from its base in South Korea. It is trendy in different corners of the world, and in 2018, it became the largest crypto exchange worldwide in terms of transactions daily. Unfortunately, in November 2019, it faced a massive cyber security attack. Bitcoins worth $45 million were stolen in a single transaction, and the exchange could not recover from this tremendous loss. The case about the heck carried on for a very long period, and just a few months later, the United States Department of Justice identified them as Chinese nationals involved in the attack.
- BINANCE 2019
It is one of the most prominent names in the world of cryptocurrencies these days, and still, it was hacked back in 2019 in May. This cryptocurrency exchange operates in 316 different cryptocurrencies and around 1200 markets worldwide. It promises to provide the best ecosystem and involves every kind of cryptocurrency transaction. It deals in every transaction through research, training, and a charity in crypto coins only, and a significant security incident hit it in 2019. The hackers stole over 7000 bitcoins from its hot wallet, which is valued at around US$40 million. The hackers managed to get hold of the security system keys and also beat the two-factor authentication code through their hacking techniques.
- BITFINEX 2016
It is a cryptocurrency exchange operating from its base in Hong Kong and started its operations in 2012. It also has its stable coin, but in 2016, it was attacked by hackers, and they stole over $60 million worth of coins from these cryptocurrency exchanges. However, the cryptocurrency exchange tracked the attack just a few times later, and a refund was made to the customers in equity. Unfortunately, the exchange could not recover from this colossal hack even though the amount was paid in a fair share to the customers.
- CRYPTOPIA 2019
It is a cryptocurrency exchange founded back in 2014, and its headquarters is based in New Zealand. Over the years, this has made some people millionaires because they choose to buy Bitcoin as an investment. In January 2019, there was a significant cryptocurrency hack attack and worth US$15.5 million was stolen. According to the report from the cryptocurrency exchange, over 9% of the total holdings were stolen from the exchange. Therefore, they were not able to recover from this colossal hack. Also, the attack was so severe that they had to liquefy the whole cryptocurrency exchange.
