Can you hack cash aka paper currency? Of course you can’t, same is the case with Bitcoin protocol. You can’t hack electronic cash but you can rob a bank or an exchange. Similarly you can’t hack the bitcoin algorithm but you can hack the digital banks (wallets) and exchanges.
The answer is: Bitcoin is surely the most vulnerable currency ever made in history.
Bitcoin users are undoubtedly constantly subject to theft, scams, and frauds, which is made easier thanks to Bitcoin’s structure and lack of regulation.
Just to give you a bird-view of the popular bitcoin hacks and other cryptocurrency hacks from 2011-2018, I have created the table below to show you the so-called security aspect of cryptocurrencies with facts and figures. More details on Chapter[2.9] and Chapter[2.13]
Complete List of Cryptocurrency Hacks (2011-2018):
Date | Crypto Service | Attack Type | Coins Stolen | Value (USD) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 July | KICKICO (ICO) | Security breach | KICK | $8,000,000 |
2018 July | Bancor (Decentralized Exchange) | Security breach | Ether | $12,000,000 |
2018 June | Bithumb (Exchange) | Security breach | alt coins | $30,000,000 |
2018 June | Coinrail (Exchange) | Security breach | alt coins | $40,000,000 |
2018 April | Foxbit (Exchange) | Security breach | 58 BTC | $540,000 |
2018 April | CoinSecure (Exchange) | Security breach | 438 BTC | $3,300,000 |
2018 Feb | BitGrail (Exchange) | Security breach | 17,000,000 NANO | $195,000,000 |
2018 Jan | CoinCheck (Exchange) | Security breach | 523,000,000 NEM | $534,000,000 |
2017 Dec | NiceHash(Marketplace) | Security breach | 4,736 BTC | $62,000,000 |
2017 Nov | Optioment (Investment Firm) | Scam/Pyramid | 12,000 BTC | $116,000,000 |
2017 Nov | Bitcoin Gold (Wallet) | Scam/Inside Job | x*x BTC | $3,300,000 |
2017 Aug | Enigma (ICO) | Security breach | 1,500 ETH | $500,000 |
2017 Jul | Parity multisig (Wallet) | Security breach | 153,037 ETH | $32,000,000 |
2017 Jul | CoinDash (ICO) | Security breach | x*x ETH | $7,000,000 |
2017 Jul | Veritaseum (Wallet) | Security breach | 36,000 VERI | $8,000,000 |
2016 Aug | Bitfinex (Exchange) | User wallets/ Inside job | 119,756 BTC | $72,000,000 |
2016 Jul | Steemit (Social Site) | User accounts | multi cryptos | $85,000 |
2016 June | DAO (Smart Contract) | Security Breach | 3.6 million ETH | $50,000,000 |
2016 May | Gatecoin (Exchange) | hot wallet/ Security breach | 250 BTC + 185,000 ETH | $2,000,000 |
2016 Mar | ShapeShift (Exchange) | inside job | 557 BTC | $230,000 |
2016 Mar | Cointrader (Exchange) | hot wallet/ Security breach | 81 BTC | $33,600 |
2015 Feb | Bter (Exchange) | cold wallet/ Inside job | 7,170 BTC | $1,750,000 |
2015 Feb | Exco.in (Exchange) | cold wallet/ Inside job | 2,000 BTC | $488,145 |
2015 Feb | Kipcoin (Exchange) | cold wallet/ Inside job | 3,000 BTC | $690,000 |
2015 Feb | 796 (Exchange) | cold wallet/ Inside job | 1,000 BTC | $230,000 |
2015 Jan | Bitstamp (Exchange) | hot wallet/ Security breach | 18,866 BTC | $5,263,614 |
2014 Dec | Blockchain.info (Wallet) | user wallets (bug, R values) | 267 BTC | $101,000 |
2014 Dec | Mintpal (Exchange) | inside job | 3,894 BTC | $3,208,412 |
2014 July | Cryptsy (Exchange) | inside job | 13,000 BTC + 300,000 LTC | $9,580,000 |
2014 Mar | Flexcoin (Wallet) | hot wallet/ Security breach | 1,000 BTC | $738,240 |
2014 Mar | CryptoRush (Exchange) | cold wallet/ Inside job | 950 BTC | $782,641 |
2014 Feb | Mt.gox (Exchange) | hot & cold wallets/ Inside job | 850,000 BTC | $450,000,000 |
2013 Dec | Blockchain.info (Wallet) | 2-factor authentication breach | 800 BTC | $800,000 |
2013 Nov | Inputs.io (Wallet) | cold wallet/ Inside job | 4,100 BTC | $4,370,000 |
2013 Nov | BIPS (Wallet) | cold wallet/ Inside job | 1,200 BTC | $1,200,000 |
2013 Nov | PicoStocks (Exchange) | cold wallet/ Inside job | 6,000 BTC | $6,009,397 |
2012 Sep | Bitfloor (Exchange) | hot wallet/ Security breach | 24,000 BTC | $250,000 |
2012 May | Bitcoinica (Exchange) | hot wallet/ Security breach | 18,000 BTC | $88,200 |
2012 Mar | Linode (Webhosting) | inside job | 46,703 BTC | $228,845 |
2011 Oct | Bitcoin7 (Exchange) | inside job | 5,000 BTC | $25,000 |