Increase in Cryptocurrency Thefts: Approximately $163 Million worth of digital assets were swiped in 16 significant hacks and high-profile breaches during August. The overall number of such incidents saw a 15% surge.
In August 2023, the world of cryptocurrency witnessed a series of significant breaches and hacks, resulting in substantial losses. Here's a rundown of some of the most notable incidents.
The DeFi protocol ODIN•FUN suffered a $7 million loss in August, marking one of the smaller losses in the month. However, the impact was felt across multiple blockchain networks.
Turkey's largest crypto exchange, BtcTurk, suffered its second major breach in 14 months. Hackers managed to steal between $48 million and $54 million from BtcTurk through hot wallet compromises, resulting in over $100 million in total losses, with $54 million lost in June alone. The stolen Bitcoin was laundered using Wasabi Wallet, and hackers swapped the stolen assets into Ethereum using decentralized exchanges. In response to the breach, BtcTurk paused all crypto transactions, but kept fiat operations active.
One of the largest crypto hacks in August occurred on August 3, 2023, when the "Multichain" cross-chain bridge was exploited multiple times, leading to the platform's closure. This was a series of exploits targeting the smart contracts of the cross-chain bridge technology.
In France, a 35-year-old former trader was kidnapped on August 35, demanding €10,000 and resulting in facial injuries. This was France's tenth crypto-related abduction this year. Organized criminal groups are believed to be behind the rise in physical violence linked to crypto theft in France.
Another significant loss was experienced by BetterBank.io, which lost $5 million in August. CrediX Finance experienced a $4.5 million exploit on August 4, which later escalated into an exit scam. The CrediX development team promised fund recovery negotiations but vanished on August 8, transferring assets through Tornado Cash.
ByBit was reportedly hacked for over $1.4 billion, marking one of the largest attacks this year. Sui's Cetus protocol faced a $260 million exploit earlier in the year. To recover the stolen funds, Cetus offered a $6 million bounty.
Perhaps the most shocking incident was a single Bitcoin investor losing $91.4 million to a social engineering attack.
Crypto hacks increased by 15% in August, resulting in losses of $163 million. As the crypto world continues to grow, so does the attractiveness to potential hackers, underscoring the need for increased security measures.
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