INFOGRAPHIC: Biggest Crypto Hacks Ever [2014-2025]

Remember the Ronin Network hack from March 2022? Back then, it was considered the biggest crypto heist in history. But guess what? It no longer holds that title.

If there’s one thing that has slowed down the mainstream adoption of digital currency, it’s hacking. While some platforms have managed to tighten security, others haven’t been so lucky. Over the years, high-profile attacks on major crypto exchanges and platforms have left investors skeptical, and just recently, another hack made headlines.

Bybit Exchange became the latest victim, losing over $1.4 billion worth of Ether to hackers, allegedly from the notorious Lazarus Group according to a report by Cointelegraph. With this, the Bybit breach now stands as the largest crypto hack ever recorded, dethroning previous attacks.

The impact was immediate with Ether’s price dropping by 3%, though this was nothing compared to the 7% nosedive triggered by the DeepSeek shockwave. It was yet another reminder that in the world of crypto, security is never guaranteed.

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The Biggest Crypto Heists in History

Crypto hacks have been happening for years, some bigger than others. Each attack has not only resulted in massive financial losses but also shaken the trust of investors worldwide.

One of the earliest and most infamous was the Mt. Gox collapse in 2014, where hackers stole 850,000 Bitcoin, valued at $473 million at the time. That breach sent shockwaves through the industry, leading to stricter security measures. But it didn’t stop there.

Fast forward to 2016, and Bitfinex found itself in the crosshairs, losing $72 million worth of Bitcoin in yet another devastating attack. Then came Coincheck’s $547 million hack in 2018, where hackers drained huge amounts of NEM (now XEM) tokens from the exchange.

Even industry giants weren’t safe. In October 2022, Binance suffered a $570 million exploit after attackers took advantage of a flaw in its cross-chain bridge. Just a few months earlier, the Poly Network hack in August 2021 saw $611 million stolen, though in a bizarre turn of events, most of the funds were later returned.

And then, of course, there was the Ronin Network hack of March 2022. If you weren’t caught up in the crypto play-to-earn (P2E) frenzy of 2021, you might have missed this one. Ronin was the blockchain network behind Axie Infinity, a massively popular blockchain game. Hackers found a way into Ronin’s validator nodes, walking away with $625 million worth of Ether and USDC—at the time, the biggest crypto heist ever recorded.

The Bybit Hack

Now, here we are in February 2025, and Bybit has just suffered a staggering $1.4 billion loss, officially making it the biggest crypto hack in history. It’s yet another painful reminder that no matter how advanced security measures get, hackers always seem to be one step ahead.

In response, Bybit has launched a bounty program, offering a 10% reward to anyone who can help recover the stolen funds. That means if someone returns the stolen crypto, they could walk away with a $140 million payday—a sum that might tempt even the hackers themselves to reconsider. Whether this strategy will work remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Bybit is willing to do whatever it takes to get its money back.

So, what does this mean for crypto investors? With attacks becoming more frequent and billions of dollars at risk, one question remains: How safe is your crypto?

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