-- A Review from Hacking Invasion to Financial Revolution
Recently, the cryptocurrency market has once again staged a thrilling scene - Bitcoin, known as 'digital gold', suddenly plummeted, triggering panic among global investors and widespread liquidation. This article will take you into this storm, analyzing the market data, hacking incident, and the birth and historical evolution of Bitcoin, providing a comprehensive interpretation of the story behind this financial storm.
Market Crash: The Eye of the Storm in Digital Currency
On the evening of February 24, 2025, the price of Bitcoin fell below the $95,000 mark for the first time, plummeting from $94,000 to $91,000 in just one hour, with a drop of nearly 4% within 24 hours. This sharp fluctuation not only set a new record for the largest single-day drop since the liquidation on February 3, but also triggered a chain reaction across the entire network. Statistics show that during the crash, 280,000 investors were liquidated, and approximately $882 million in funds evaporated in an instant.
Immediately following, on February 25, Bitcoin continued to decline, breaking through the critical support level of $90,000, reaching a low of $86,050. Although it rebounded slightly to $88,680 by the close, market confidence had already been severely impacted. On February 26, Bitcoin fell again, dropping from $88,680 to $84,250, with a daily decline of up to 5%. The cryptocurrency fear and greed index even hit a new low since August 2024. As of the afternoon of February 27, the latest quote stood at $86,011, with over 187,000 liquidation events globally, totaling more than $770 million, showcasing the shock of this crash.
Bybit Hacking Incident: A Fatal Crack in the Security Line
Behind the market's violent fluctuations, a shocking hacking incident is quietly brewing. The well-known exchange Bybit, known for its efficiency and security since its establishment in 2018, was hacked on the evening of February 21. Hackers exploited advanced persistent threats (APT) to infiltrate Bybit employees' devices and induced operators to sign malicious transactions during regular transfer operations by forging a secure multi-signature front-end interface. The hackers also pre-deployed malicious contracts, altering the storage logic of smart contracts, and emptied more than $1.5 billion worth of assets from Bybit's Ethereum cold wallet in one go, dispersing them to multiple unknown addresses.
Cold wallets are supposed to be highly secure due to offline storage of private keys, but this incident exposed the platform's vulnerability in dealing with advanced attacks. Experts from blockchain security company Halborn believe this could be the largest theft incident in the cryptocurrency sector to date, directly undermining investor confidence and raising market risk aversion.
The Birth of Bitcoin: The Starting Point of a Financial Revolution
In reviewing the current market turmoil, we may as well trace back to the origins of Bitcoin. The 2008 global financial crisis spawned a demand for a secure, transparent, and decentralized financial system. It was against this backdrop that Satoshi Nakamoto proposed the concept of Bitcoin and mined the genesis block on January 3, 2009, ushering in the blockchain era. With its distributed ledger and cryptographic anti-tampering features, blockchain technology ensured that each transaction was jointly verified by global miners, thus establishing Bitcoin's position in the global financial ecosystem.
Although Bitcoin was little known in its early days, the 2010 incident where an American programmer exchanged 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas and the subsequent soaring prices gradually brought this decentralized digital currency into the public's view, sparking an unprecedented financial revolution.
The Battle of Long and Short Positions: The Clash of Speculation Frenzy and Value Pursuit
The price of Bitcoin has experienced multiple surges and crashes, creating a market full of speculation and risk. Starting from 8 cents in 2010, it broke through $1 in 2011 and surpassed $100 in 2013. However, after the epic surge in 2017, the cliff-like drop in 2018 dealt a heavy blow to countless investors. Despite a period of market adjustment, the continued rise in 2023 and 2024 once again brought Bitcoin into the spotlight of the world.
Today, amidst the high price fluctuations, debates persist in the market about whether Bitcoin is merely a speculative bubble. Supporters argue that its decentralization and anonymity represent the future trend of global currency development, while opponents worry whether Bitcoin will replay the tragedy of the 17th-century Dutch tulip bubble and become the next financial bubble.
Conclusion: Reflections After the Storm and Future Outlook
The sharp decline of Bitcoin and the Bybit hacking incident have sounded the alarm for the cryptocurrency market: between technology and trust, security is always an indispensable part. Although Bitcoin symbolizes a financial revolution and has brought numerous innovations and changes to the global economy, the market's frenzy and speculative behavior constantly remind us that risks and opportunities coexist.
In the future, how to ensure technical security while balancing market regulation and investor protection will be an important issue for the entire digital currency industry. Just like the bubbles and collapses that have occurred throughout history, time will eventually reveal the truth, and what we can do is to remain calm during the storm and view each fluctuation rationally.
In the digital age, with constant changes in circumstances, only by moving forward steadily can one find their place in this global financial revolution.