The number of virtual asset hacking cases in the second quarter of this year was the highest since 2020. Among domestic virtual asset exchanges this year, Coinone delisted the most tokens for hacking-related reasons.

According to the virtual asset market analysis platform Unfolded on the 1st, there were a total of 71 cases of virtual assets being hacked in the second quarter this year. That is the highest figure since the first quarter of 2020, when the survey began, and the hacking damage amounted to about $746 million (about 1.148 trillion won).

A view of Coinone's offline customer center./Courtesy of Coinone

Unfolded said, "Unlike in the past when there were large-scale, single hacking incidents targeting large virtual assets, in the second quarter this year hacks continued to target relatively smaller virtual assets," and noted, "Small projects remain vulnerable."

From the start of the year to this day, the domestic virtual asset exchange that delisted the most tokens for hacking-related reasons is Coinone. So far this year, 27 tokens have been delisted from Coinone. Of these, four were delisted due to hacking. Upbit (12 delistings), Bithumb (19), Korbit (15), and GOPAX (23) each had three tokens delisted for hacking-related reasons.

A recently hacked virtual asset is the Layer 2 Blockchain project TAIKO. TAIKO lost more than $1 million (about 1.5 billion won) in funds to the hacking attack. Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit have suspended TAIKO deposits and withdrawals and designated it as a "cautionary trading item."

At the domestic virtual asset exchange Bithumb, Taiko (TAIKO), designated as an "investment caution item" due to a hack, rises more than 100% on the 22nd last month, triggering a "price-caging pumping" phenomenon./Courtesy of Bithumb

At Bithumb, TAIKO's price rose about 180% on the 22nd of last month. The so-called "basket pumping (Pumping)" phenomenon occurred, in which a virtual asset designated as a cautionary trading item with deposits and withdrawals banned experiences sharp swings.

Under current law, those who engage in price rigging through abnormal trading can face imprisonment of at least one year or a fine of three to five times the gains from the violation. Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Chan-jin in Feb. said he would root out price rigging in the virtual asset market and announced a special probe. At the time, the FSS identified basket pumping as a target of its unfair-trading special probe.

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