Just two hacker groups may have stolen $1 billion in cryptocurrency

Just two teams of sophisticated cybercriminals appear to have been behind $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency thefts from online exchanges in recent years.

Alpha and Beta: Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis spent around three months tracking funds that had been stolen in known hacks. It was able to link much of that money to two groups, which it dubbed Alpha and Beta. If the group’s analysis is correct, then the two groups would account for 60% of all publicly reported crypto-heists.

The researchers suspect that Alpha is “a giant, tightly controlled organization at least partly driven by non-monetary goals.” Beta, on the other hand, “seems to be a less organized and smaller organization absolutely focused on the money.”