Major Crypto Exchange Hacks & Operational Errors

Beyond external attacks, operational errors can lead to significant financial losses and legal challenges for cryptocurrency exchanges.

The top 3

1. The Historic Mt. Gox Collapse: Mt. Gox, once the largest Bitcoin exchange, collapsed in 2014 after losing between 650,000 and 850,000 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $450 million at the time, due to a security breach, highlighting critical security and internal control issues.
2. Costliest 'Mistaken Credit' Incidents: The Bithumb incident in February 2026 saw 620,000 Bitcoin (over $40 billion) mistakenly credited to users instead of Korean Won, with about $9 million unrecovered, while Crypto.com accidentally sent $10.5 million instead of $100 in May 2021.
3. Enhanced Security Measures Post-Breach: Following major hacks and errors, crypto exchanges have increasingly adopted robust security measures, including storing over 90% of assets in cold storage, implementing two-factor authentication (2FA), and maintaining reserves exceeding 100% of customer funds.

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