GuShiio.com Original author: An Fei, a block guest
Compiled by: ForesightNews
Cryptocurrency prices began to fall sharply on the evening of February 21, and the decline continued until noon on the 22nd. The main reason for this decline is believed to be related to the hacking of Bybit Exchange. On the evening of February 21, 2025, the exchange suffered a $1.46 billion hacking attack, making it the largest security vulnerability in the industry in the first quarter of 2025. One of the vulnerabilities, the attack targeted one of the exchange’s Ethereum multi-signed cold wallets.
Bybit was hacked and the amount of money in history became the highest
This incident has also been labeled as one of the largest hacking attacks in the history of cryptocurrency exchanges, accounting for more than 50% of the total value loss of the cryptocurrency market in 2024. The amount of losses caused by hacking on the cryptocurrency market in 2024 reached 2.2 billion US dollars, up from 1.8 billion US dollars in 2023. The incident also led to the liquidation of approximately US$100 million in the market, further leading to a sharp decline in the value of major cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) fell significantly after the news broke, with Ethereum falling nearly 4% in less than 4 hours after the hack was confirmed. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said the exchange detected unauthorized activity in its Ethereum cold wallet, which was attacked during its transfer to the hot wallet. Hackers manipulate transactions by concealing them to make them appear legitimate, but contain malicious code that changes the logic of wallet smart contracts, allowing them to steal funds.
Blockchain analysts reported that more than $1 billion in funds flowed out of Bybit, with a significant portion of its assets being transferred and sold, triggering alarms in the crypto community. The stolen funds are mainly ether and pledged ether (stETH and mETH), and are spread to multiple addresses to avoid tracking. Hackers have begun exchanging stolen funds for other ether tokens on decentralized exchanges.
This security breach highlights concerns about the integration of cryptocurrencies with traditional financial institutions and the need for stronger regulation. It also highlights the vulnerability of even so-called secure cold wallets (not connected to the Internet). The incident has sparked a debate on centralization versus decentralization in the cryptocurrency world, with some arguing that well-regulated markets are crucial to preventing such large-scale losses.
Historically, high-amount hacking incidents
Next, this article will analyze in detail the largest cryptocurrency loss incidents caused by hacking attacks or security breaches. The following rankings are based on the amount of losses at the time of the attack. The analysis covers the details of each incident, attack methods, responsible parties (publicly known), recycling, and the extensive impact on the cryptocurrency industry. Data sources include global information platforms, blockchain analysis reports and official announcements from affected entities.
Detailed incident analysis
1. Bybit hacking (February 21, 2025,$1.46 billion)
The Bybit hack occurred on February 21, 2025, setting a record for the highest loss in history. The hackers stole more than $1.46 billion from the exchange’s ETH cold wallet. The attack involves sophisticated phishing techniques that manipulate the signature interface to display a legitimate UI, while changing the logic of the underlying smart contract to transfer funds to unknown addresses. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed in an X post that only one ETH cold wallet was affected, other wallets were safe, and withdrawals were proceeding normally. He claimed that even if losses could not be recovered, the exchange would still be solvent and customer assets would be paid 1:1. This incident highlighted vulnerabilities in cold wallet management and Safe (former Gnosis Safe) multi-signature wallet.
2. Ronin cyber hacking (March 2022,$625 million)
The Ronin cyber hacking attack occurred in March 2022 and involved attacking the sidechain verification nodes of the Axie Infinity game. The hacker controlled four verification nodes, authorized two unauthorized withdrawals, and stole 173,600 Ethereum (approximately US$595 million) and 25.5 million USDC (US$25.5 million), with a total loss of US$625 million. The incident was attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, and Sky Mavis promised to compensate affected users and strengthen security measures.
3. Poly Network hack (August 2021,$611 million)
The Poly Network hack occurred on August 10, 2021. Hackers used the Cross-Chain Bridge smart contract vulnerability to steal approximately US$611 million in various assets, including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and other tokens, involving Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and Polygon. Tether froze US$33 million in USDT to reduce losses. The hacker later negotiated with the platform to return most of the funds, but his identity was unknown.
4. Binance BNB Bridge hack (October 6, 2022,$569 million)
The Binance BNB Bridge hack occurred on October 6, 2022. The hacker used the vulnerability of the BNB Intelligent Chain Cross-Chain Bridge to steal 2 million BNB tokens, with a total loss of approximately US$569 million. The attack involved forging certificates to withdraw funds. Binance quickly suspended the bridge service and froze some of the stolen funds. The final loss was controlled at approximately US$100 million. The rest of the funds were recovered. Binance provided a bounty to track down hackers.
5. Coincheck hack (January 2018,$534 million)
The Coincheck hack occurred on January 26, 2018. The hacker used the hot wallet vulnerability to steal 523 million NEM coins, with a total value of approximately US$534 million. At that time, the price of NEM coins was approximately 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 hack (2014,$473 million)
Mt. The Gox hack occurred in 2014. The hackers stole nearly 750,000 customer bitcoins and 100,000 exchange-owned bitcoins, totaling 750,000 bitcoins. At the time, the value was approximately US$473 million, accounting for 7% of the total circulation, resulting in the exchange bankruptcy in 2014.
7. FTX hacking (November 2022,$473 million)
The FTX hacking occurred after the bankruptcy filing on November 11, 2022. Unauthorized transactions resulted in the emptying of wallets and losses of approximately US$473 million, mainly stablecoins, which were quickly converted into ether.
8. Wormhole hack (February 2022,$320 million)
The Wormhole hack occurred on February 2, 2022. The hacker used the token bridge vulnerability between Ethereum and Solana to steal 120,000 wETH tokens, with a total value of US$320 million. After that, all funds were recovered, and Wormhole provided a US$10 million reward.
9. DMM Bitcoin hack (May 31, 2024,$308 million)
The DMM Bitcoin hack occurred on May 31, 2024. The hacker stole 4,502.9 BTC, worth approximately US$308 million. According to the FBI and Japan’s National Police Agency (joint statement on December 23, 2024), North Korea’s TraderTraitor (a branch of the Lazarus Group) used a social engineering attack to disguise itself as a LinkedIn recruiter to trick Ginco Inc, which is responsible for managing DMM transactions. Employees download malicious program code, which in turn control transaction requests and transfer funds to hackers ‘wallets. DMM promised to compensate customers, but closed in December 2024 due to financial pressures.
10. KuCoin hacking (September 2020,$285 million)
The KuCoin hack occurred on September 25, 2020, and the hackers stole $285 million in various cryptocurrency assets. The attack involved a hot wallet vulnerability. KuCoin worked with law enforcement and blockchain companies to recover approximately US$240 million, leaving a remaining loss of US$45 million. KuCoin compensated users through insurance and own funds.
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