Hackers Milk Over $290M From Crypto Projects in November

In what has been an eventful month for the crypto space, the total value lost to hacks and other security incidents has surged to a whopping $290 million.

The month of November has wound up being one of the most eventful months in crypto. From early signs of a bull market to the guilty verdict of FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement, there has been so much drama to unpack.

However, the resurging markets and events of the past few weeks have also coincided with bad actors seeking new ways to exploit crypto projects. Sadly, such efforts were largely successful in November, with hackers siphoning over $290 million from their victims.

According to blockchain analytics provider Look On Chain, the amount was stolen across five major security incidents. Top of the list is the $118 million stolen from the centralized crypto exchange platform Poloniex.

Is November Hacker Month?

In just 20 days, 5 major hacks occurred, with funds exceeding $290M. pic.twitter.com/e5rTf0apFD

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) November 23, 2023

Justin Sun-related Entities Suffer Biggest Loses

Crypto projects associated with entrepreneur Justin Sun have been in the thick of the latest attacks. Poloniex and HTX (formerly Huobi), both centralized exchanges, are part of Sun’s portfolio companies and have lost a combined $121 million to hackers in November. 

Meanwhile, the Heco Bridge hack, which saw over $87 million siphoned, involves the Heco chain, a blockchain network backed by Justin Sun’s HTX. The bridge protocol allowed users to move funds in and out of Heco and was compromised similarly to the HTX exploit.

The recent hacks have led to speculation that the entrepreneur engineered the security exploits to exit the industry in the wake of recent developments involving major partner Binance. It is worth noting, however, that the allegations remain unconfirmed as of press time, and could represent mere speculation.

DeFi Not Exempted

A significant amount of hacked funds in November involved centralized entities. The same is true of Kronos Research’s $25 million loss due to compromised API keys.

Yet DeFi protocols have not been spared from the onslaught. KyberSwap’s $46.5 million heist on Thursday marks its first major security incident since its launch in 2019.

Crypto investors must be cautious when interacting with centralized or decentralized projects. The stakes remain high, and bad actors are always looking for ways to capitalize on the nascent nature of blockchain-based applications.