Nearly 70% of November’s $350 million crypto hacks linked to Justin Sun entities Nearly 70% of November’s $350 million crypto hacks linked to Justin Sun entities
PeckShield cites a tenfold increase in November crypto thefts with Justin Sun's platforms at the center.
2 min read
Updated: Dec. 1, 2023 at 9:42 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
November witnessed an upsurge in Web3 hacks and exploits as crypto hackers stole nearly $350 million across 28 incidences, according to blockchain security firm Peckshield.
This marked the second-largest month for such occurrences this year, behind the $356 million stolen in September but nearly tenfold from October’s $32.47 million.
The cumulative losses from crypto exploits this year have reached approximately $1.37 billion as of the end of November.
Justin Sun projects dominate
In November, approximately $236 million was illicitly transferred from projects associated with Justin Sun, namely Poloniex, HTX, and Heco Bridge. These Sun-linked ventures collectively make up nearly 70% of the total funds stolen in terms of monetary value during that period.
For context, CryptoSlate reported two major compromises of a Sun-linked platform during the month. On Nov. 10, Poloniex, a crypto exchange purchased by the crypto entrepreneur in 2019, suffered a $100 million hack, with the attacker using the stolen funds to pump Tron blockchain’s native TRX token.
Less than two weeks after the Poloniex hack, Sun confirmed that HTX and Heco Bridge suffered an attack that lost users’ funds. At the time, CryptoSlate reported that the projects lost more than $100 million.
However, Sun has announced plans to reward users and cover the losses they suffered from the exploits of his platforms.
Other hacks
Aside from Sun’s project losses, other crypto projects that suffered major exploits during the month include KyberSwap, which was drained of around $55 million, and Taipei-based crypto trading firm Kronos Research, which lost $26 million to unauthorized access of its API keys.
Other projects like the decentralized exchange dYdX, Raft Protocol, Onyx Protocol, and others cumulatively lost around $25 million combined.
Meanwhile, a single victim also lost $27 million worth of Tether’s USDT to a phishing attack.
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Posted In: Hacks
Author 
Oluwapelumi Adejumo
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
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In this article
Tether
$1.00111
Launched in 2014, Tether is a blockchain-enabled platform designed to facilitate the use of fiat currencies in a digital manner.
dYdX (Native)
$1.30776
DYDX is a governance token that allows the dYdX community to truly govern the dYdX Layer 2 Protocol.
Kyber Network
$0.56794
Kyber Network is a hub of liquidity protocols that aggregates liquidity from various sources to provide secure and instant transactions on any decentralized application (DApp).
Peckshield
PeckShield is a blockchain security and data analytics company, that offers products and services for security, privacy, and usability of the entire blockchain ecosystem.
Tether Limited
Tether Limited is the company that introduced Tether (USD₮ or USDT), an asset-backed cryptocurrency stablecoin, in 2014.
HTX
Huobi, a virtual asset exchange, launched a revised branding strategy on September 13, 2023, where “Huobi” will be rebranded as “HTX.” “H” stands for Huobi, “T” represents TRON with a commitment to being all in TRON, and “X” stands for the exchange.
Justin Sun has carved a name for himself as a leading figure in the blockchain sector.