Saednews: Another powerful cyberattack has shown how vulnerable people's digital assets can be to risk.
According to Saednews' Science and Technology Service, citing Hamshahri Online, just hours after it was announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) had dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase (the world's largest cryptocurrency market), another major exchange in the cryptocurrency sector, "Bybit," was targeted in an unprecedented theft.
An Unprecedented Heist
Many digital currency market participants were happy about the announcement, but just a few hours later, hackers targeted Bybit, another leading cryptocurrency exchange, and stole around 1.5 billion dollars, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft in history. CNBC reported that in this incident, hackers attacked Bybit’s cold wallet, an offline storage system designed to enhance security. After the attack, the stolen assets were quickly transferred to several different wallets and liquidated through various platforms.
The Fall of Cryptocurrency Values
Following this event, the prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies plummeted significantly. Even Coinbase's stock value dropped by 8% by the end of the day. This was bad news for those hoping for the market's recovery and growth in these days.
A False Dream: The Cryptocurrency Capital
One month ago, U.S. President Donald Trump had said in a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, "The U.S. will become the capital of cryptocurrency!" Although Bybit, the targeted exchange, is technically a British-Singaporean entity, this does not change the situation, as cryptocurrencies have always been highly vulnerable and lack a stabilized market. Therefore, the idea of becoming the capital of cryptocurrencies is more like the saying "writing on the ice"! Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that new policies being formed in Washington encourage millions of new investors to enter the cryptocurrency market, but such incidents are a significant barrier to this. This attack serves as a reminder that despite the growing influence of cryptocurrencies in politics, the industry is still an international lawless arena—a chaotic market where even the most experienced investors sometimes suffer significant losses.
Democrats' Reaction
Corey Freier, who worked on cryptocurrency policies during Biden's presidency at the SEC, said: "These people, whose entire business revolves around cryptocurrencies and who specialize in these matters, have lost 1.5 billion dollars. So, how can we expect ordinary citizens, who just want their bank cards to work, to safely use these products?"
Similar Incidents
Several hacks in the history of digital exchanges have been recognized as the largest and most impactful events, all of which occurred after the recent cyberattack.
KuCoin - 2020
In this incident, approximately 281 million dollars in cryptocurrency was stolen, serving as a prime example of the security vulnerabilities in managing hot wallets.
Coincheck - 2018
In this attack, a Japanese exchange was targeted, and cryptocurrency NEM worth approximately 530 million dollars was stolen.
