Crypto Hack Feb Breakdown: Unpacking a $1.53B Month of Losses

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In the previous month, the cryptocurrency sector witnessed its biggest hack in history. Because of the Bybit hack, it lost nearly $1.4 billion. In February, losses from hacks increased by at least 1,500% compared to January. Let’s dive deep to analyse the scenario better!

Bybit Hack: The Largest Crypto Attack in History 

It was on February 21 that the Bybit hack was reported. At least $1.4 billion was lost due to the hack. It was orchestrated by a notorious hacking group based in North Korea, known as the Lazarus Group. The involvement of this North Korean cyber-criminal group in the Bybit hack was confirmed by the FBI, the top investigative agency in the United States. 

The last time the crypto sector witnessed a hack of this scale was when over $650 million was hacked from the Ronin ecosystem. Notably, the Bybit hack was twice as big as the Ronin hack. 

However, one thing in common between these two infamous hacks was that both were orchestrated by the same criminal group, Lazarus. 

Other Major Crypto Hacks in February 

No fewer than $1.53 billion was lost due to hacks in February. The Bybit hack alone accounted for $1.4 billion. Without this hack, February’s losses still totalled $126 million, which was at least 28.5% higher compared to January’s $98 million. The Infini hack and ZkLend hack were the other two major hacks recorded in February. 

On February 24, nearly $49 million was stolen from stablecoin payment firm Infini. Hackers exploited admin rights to redeem all Vault tokens. Interestingly, the company offered the hackers 20% of the stolen funds if the rest was returned. However, the hackers have not yet responded to the offer.     

On February 12, decentralised money lending protocol ZkLend was hacked. At least $10 million was stolen in the Zklend hack.

Because of these two hacks alone, at least $59 million was lost in February. 

CertiK data shows that wallet compromise was the prime cause of hacks. The data also indicates that code vulnerabilities and phishing were also important causes.