The biggest crypto hacks of 2023

The amount from stolen cryptocurrencies through hacks a backward to 2023. Back to biggest token heists of theyear.

According to a report by blockchain intelligence platform TRM Labs, hackers have stolen approximately 1.7 billion in crypto in 2023.

Last year, analysts’ estimates were well over $3 billion. 2022 was considered one of the worst years in this respect.

Piracy volumes dropped by more than 50% in 2023 compared to 2022. While the number of attacks, at 160, has remained relatively stable since 2022″, thus indicates TRM Labs.

According to the data provider, infrastructure attacks accounted for more than half of the funds stolen in 2023, with nearly $30 million per incident. Also, the top ten hacks totaled 70% of all cryptocurrencies siphoned off during the year.

The biggest crypto-hacks of 2023

Mixin Network – $200 million

Mixin Network, a platform focused on blockchain scalability, suffered an attack in September and lost the equivalent of $200 million in crypto-currencies. Although partly decentralized, Mixin was connected to a centralized database. This was the largest attack of the year.

Euler Finance – $197 million

Euler, an Ethereum-built protocol backed by Haun Ventures that enables the lending and borrowing of various digital assets, was targeted by hackers in the spring. The hack resulted in a loss of $197 million. The perpetrators eventually returned most of the funds after concluding a deal with the platform.

Multichain – $127 million

After running into difficulties at the beginning of the year, Multichain lost $127 million in July. The story behind this hack, or rug pull, remains unclear to this day. According to the cross-chain protocol, the project’s founder was imprisoned by the Chinese police. He was the only person to hold the wallet keys.

Poloniex – $100 million

Poloniex, a crypto exchange owned by Tron founder Justin Sun, was very recently robbed of $100 million in crypto. The platform subsequently reported that it had managed to freeze some of the stolen digital coins. Several Sun-affiliated companies were strangely targeted this year, including HTX and its Heco bridge, which lost $86 million a few weeks later.

Atomic Wallet – $100 million

This summer, decentralized wallet provider Atomic Wallet suffered losses of around $100 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other tokens after an attack, which Elliptic claims was orchestrated by North Korean hacker group Lazarus.

Curve Finance – $73 million

Several Curve Finance liquidity pools using the Vyper programming language were exploited at the end of July. The well-known DeFi protocol had successfully negotiated with the hacker for the return of part of the stolen $73 million, and subsequently offered a bounty in exchange for information about the hacker.

CoinEx – $70 million

In September, Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx lost around $70 million in ETH, TRX, XRP and other BNB. North Korea’s Lazarus gang is also believed to be behind the hack.

A decline linked to several factors

TRM Labs believes that 3 key factors have contributed to the decline in crime in the crypto space. The on-chain specialist cites “improved security measures”, “intensified law enforcement” and “closer industry coordination”.

Despite this encouraging news, the piracy landscape remains fast-changing and inherently uncertain: the emergence of a sophisticated new threat could quickly reverse the decline in piracy volumes. Vigilance and adaptability remain crucial as industry and law enforcement seek to maintain this positive trajectory through to 2024″, TRM concludes.

Find the full list of major crypto hacks in our dedicated section.

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