In 2023, the crypto industry continued to face challenges as hacks and exploits persisted, resulting in significant financial losses. While the situation was concerning, it was somewhat of an improvement compared to the previous year, which had the highest number of incidents on record. Analysts at blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs reported that although a few large-scale hacks could narrow the gap in December, the total losses for 2023 were expected to be significantly lower than the staggering $4 billion stolen in 2022. Nonetheless, substantial amounts were still lost this year, with TRM Labs estimating a total of $1.7 billion. Let's delve into some of the notable hacks that occurred throughout the year.
Mixin: A Targeted Attack on a Cross-Chain Asset Transfer Project
In September, hackers targeted Mixin, a cross-chain asset transfers and decentralized exchange project based in Hong Kong. The attackers managed to steal $200 million in cryptocurrency after targeting the project's cloud service provider. As a result, Mixin froze all withdrawals. The project faced criticism for its design, with decentralization proponents claiming that it was more centralized than it claimed to be.
Euler: A Flash Loan Attack on a DeFi Lender
In March, hackers carried out a flash loan attack on Euler, a decentralized finance (DeFi) lender. The attackers made away with $8.7 million worth of the decentralized stablecoin DAI, $18.5 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), a significant $135.8 million in Staked Ethereum (stETH), and $33.8 million in Circle's USD stablecoin USDC. However, the hacker later returned most of the stolen funds back to the users.
Poloniex: A Major Breach at Tron Founder's Crypto Exchange
In November, Tron founder Justin Sun's crypto exchange, Poloniex, fell victim to a significant hack. The criminals made off with over $126 million in various cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Tron, stablecoins USDT and TUSD, as well as a substantial amount of meme coins. Poloniex later announced that it had frozen a portion of the assets associated with the hackers' addresses and that the exchange's operating revenue would be able to cover the losses.
Atomic Wallet: North Korean Hackers Target a Decentralized Wallet
In June, self-custodial and decentralized Atomic Wallet experienced an attack by hackers believed to be from North Korea. Initially, the hackers stole $3 million from the wallet. However, it is worth noting that the Atomic Wallet team quickly responded and managed to prevent further losses.
While the crypto industry still faces significant security challenges, it is encouraging to see that the total losses in 2023 were projected to be lower than the previous year. However, it is crucial for industry participants to continuously improve security measures and implement robust protocols to protect user funds and maintain trust in the crypto ecosystem.
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