Major Cryptocurrency Hack Exposed
In a shocking revelation, Arkham Intelligence has retroactively exposed the largest cryptocurrency hack to date, involving the Chinese mining pool known as LuBian, which was compromised in December 2020. At that time, the hackers made off with a staggering 127,426 Bitcoins, approximately valued at $3.5 billion—though today’s value of the stolen cryptocurrency stands at a massive $14.5 billion.
Details of the Attack
Arkham’s findings, released this past Saturday, indicate that LuBian, which was ranked as the sixth-largest Bitcoin mining pool during that period, suffered an attack on December 28, 2020. Before the mining operation could respond, nearly 90% of its Bitcoin was siphoned off, while a reserve of 11,886 BTC was later transferred to secure recovery wallets. Strikingly, neither LuBian nor the hacker disclosed this major breach at the time, highlighting a significant lapse in transparency, as noted by Arkham.
Defensive Measures and Vulnerabilities
As part of an unusual defensive move, LuBian reportedly embedded OP_RETURN messages in 1,516 different transactions directed at the hacker’s wallet addresses, which incurred a cost of 1.4 BTC. Arkham’s investigation suggested that the mining pool’s use of a flawed algorithm for private key generation may have made it subject to brute-force attacks, potentially leading to its downfall.
Comparative Incidents in Cryptocurrency Security
The LuBian hack surpasses other notorious notables in the cryptocurrency sphere, most notably the ByBit exchange breach earlier this year, which accounted for losses of $1.5 billion and was the largest hack reported until now. This earlier incident stemmed from a vulnerability linked to a developer’s compromised machine, which hackers exploited to access sensitive AWS tokens undetected.
Additionally, 2023 witnessed a notable case of social engineering where an individual lost $330 million in Bitcoin, further emphasizing the importance of security in the crypto domain. Only $7 million of that total was managed to be frozen shortly after the theft.
Conclusion
As the cryptocurrency landscape continues to evolve, these incidents serve as sobering reminders of the critical need for robust cybersecurity protocols and vigilant private key management.
