SBI VC Trade Acquires Assets of Hacked DMM Bitcoin Exchange, Customer Accounts to Open by March

Japanese crypto finance firm SBI VC Trade has taken over the assets of the hacked cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin, with plans to open accounts for DMM customers by March 2025.

According to a statement released by SBI on December 25, all customer accounts and assets from DMM will be transferred to SBI on March 8.

The transition will be seamless for DMM customers, as SBI will automatically create accounts for them, eliminating the need for manual registration.

DMM Bitcoin to Liquidate Following Hack

DMM Bitcoin announced earlier this month that it would liquidate following a devastating security breach in May 2024.

Hackers managed to compromise the exchange’s crypto wallets, stealing 4,500 Bitcoin—valued at approximately $320 million at the time.

DMM pledged to reimburse affected customers, ensuring their funds would be restored despite the breach.

The attack was attributed to the North Korea-linked cybercrime group TraderTraitor, according to findings shared on December 23 by the FBI, Japan’s National Police Agency, and the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center.

DMM Bitcoinからの口座・預かり資産移管について

いつも当社サービスをご利用いただきありがとうございます。

当社は、2024年12月2日に公表した「DMM Bitcoinからの口座・預かり資産移管に向けた基本合意に関するお知らせ」の通り、株式会社DMM…

— SBI VC Trade (SBI VCトレード） (@sbivc_official) December 25, 2024

Investigators revealed that a North Korean operative posed as a recruiter on LinkedIn, targeting an employee at Ginco, a Japanese crypto wallet firm that maintained wallet management systems for DMM.

The operative tricked the employee into executing a malicious script disguised as a pre-employment test.

The script was uploaded to the employee’s GitHub repository, which hackers later exploited.

In May, TraderTraitor reportedly used compromised communications channels to impersonate the Ginco employee, enabling them to manipulate a transaction request from DMM Bitcoin and steal the funds.

This heist is one of the most significant cybercrimes in the cryptocurrency industry in 2024.

Blockchain security firm Hacken noted that attacks on centralized crypto services more than doubled in 2024, with losses reaching $694 million compared to the previous year.

The DMM Bitcoin hack and a $235 million breach on Indian exchange WazirX are among the most prominent incidents.

Crypto Industry Lost $1.49B to Hacks and Fraud in 2024

As reported, the crypto industry witnessed losses totaling $1.49 billion in 2024 due to hacks and fraud, marking a 17% decrease from 2023.

According to a report by blockchain security platform Immunefi, hacks were overwhelmingly the primary cause, accounting for $1.47 billion or 98.1% of the total losses across 192 incidents.

Fraud, including rug pulls and scams, represented just 1.9% of the losses at $28 million, though this category saw a 72% increase year-on-year.

The decline in total crypto losses reflects improved security measures, as the number of successful attacks also fell by 27.5%, from 320 in 2023 to 232 in 2024.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols remained prime targets, representing 51.4% of the losses, while centralized finance (CeFi) platforms accounted for 48.6%.

Notably, CeFi losses surged by 77.5% year-on-year, reaching $726 million.

Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain were the most attacked blockchains, with Ethereum facing 104 incidents that led to 44% of total chain losses.