From Cointelegraph

March 31, 2025 4:00 am:

In February 2025, the North Korean Lazarus Group stole $1.46 billion from Bybit through phishing emails, revealing a design failure in the system. The hackers converted all 499,000 ETH into untraceable funds using THORChain. Some services profited from processing the laundering of stolen funds, highlighting the lack of user protection in the crypto industry.

Coinbase users lost over $300 million annually to social engineering attacks, with $65 million stolen in December 2024 and January 2025. Security vulnerabilities in API keys and verification systems enabled successful human-targeted attacks. The US FBI reported that Americans lost over $5.6 billion to fraud in 2023, with social engineering driving at least half of these schemes.

Security concerns are recognized as the main barrier to adoption by 37% of crypto users worldwide. While the industry promotes high-risk speculative assets like memecoins, millions of users lose savings to vulnerabilities. Crypto founders prioritize marketing over security, leading to substantial financial losses for individuals worldwide.

Even industry leaders like Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and DeFiance Capital founder Arthur_0x fell victim to basic attacks, losing millions due to human vulnerabilities. Despite knowledge of security rules, the unpredictability of human factors makes users susceptible to attacks. Blockchain transactions demand stronger safeguards to prevent irreversible mistakes or thefts.

Crypto industry leaders are criticized for prioritizing PR stunts over user security, allowing billion-dollar thefts and systematic fraud to occur easily. Technical brilliance should include protecting users from financial loss, and true innovation means building systems that work for real humans. Regulators may intervene if the industry fails to address security risks effectively.

Read more at Cointelegraph: Stop pretending technical and human vulnerabilities are separate things