CoinScan Raises $6.3M, Reaching a Valuation of ~$100 Million

TL;DR

• The firm has the support of Shalom Mackenzie, the leading individual investor in the sports wagering enterprise DraftKings.
• Crypto hacks have exceeded $1 billion in lost funds as of September 2023. Thus, 2023 became one of the worst years in terms of cryptocurrency hacks and scams

Crypto Analytics Company CoinScan, Supported by DraftKings’ Billionaire, Secures $6.3M Funding

CoinScan, a platform designed to assist cryptocurrency users in minimizing potential losses from cyber threats, has announced a successful fundraising round of $6.3 million.

Among the company’s notable backers are Shalom Mackenzie, the primary individual investor in sports-betting giant DraftKings, Mor Weizer, CEO of gambling software powerhouse Playtech, and Tectona.

Having been in the development phase for two years, CoinScan is now launching with a focus on creating tools to evaluate a cryptocurrency’s vulnerability. 

This can help with abrupt devaluations and real-time tracking of its distribution, wallet balances, and trading patterns.

Data from blockchain security entity Certik underscore the urgency of CoinScan’s mission.

The company highlighted that losses in the cryptocurrency realm due to scams, breaches, and other cyberattacks had already exceeded $1B for the year by early September.

Crypto Hacks in 2023 – A Real Problem

The Web3 sector experienced a dubious landmark this week, though it’s a path previously trodden.

By September 4, 2023, the sector witnessed losses exceeding $1 billion due to exit scams, cyber breaches, and malicious exploits. 

There’s been a significant slowdown in the rate of these losses. To put this into perspective, in 2022, this billion-dollar threshold was reached as early as March.

However, while the total losses in 2023 might be downward, the incident rate remains consistent with what CertiK recorded in 2022. 

Extrapolating from this data, 2023 might experience a higher count of such incidents, although the cumulative losses might be less.

Several dynamics could shape this progression: the ongoing bear market impacting asset prices, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi schemes, looming regulatory guidance, and the potential for significant breach events. 

A large chunk of the losses in 2022 resulted from cyberattacks led by state-sponsored hackers, especially the North Korean Lazarus group. 

While Lazarus continued its operations in 2023, their financial impact was markedly lesser than in 2022. 

While state-affiliated hacking groups targeted Web3 infrastructures this year, they haven’t necessarily translated to substantial financial damage.

Is North Korea Behind It All? 

Interestingly, most crypto hacks and phishing scams are linked to the North Korean Lazarus Group. 

The hacking enterprise has been linked to Balancer, Stake, and CoinEx’s notorious hacks.

Experts estimate that the hacking group has already stolen over ~$450 million of crypto and other assets this year. This makes it one of the most profitable attacks for crypto hackers.   

But is the group behind all the other hacks we witness daily? Probably not, but they definitely have a reputation in the crypto world…