Hack history / 2019 / Hack or exploit
VeChain
Hack or exploit on Dec 14, 2019 · Private Key Compromised
SOURCES AGREE ON DATE AND LOSS · 2 SOURCES
Lost
$6.5M
dollars at the time
Returned
none listed
as the sources state it
Rank
#402
among thefts by dollars lost
What happened
VeChain's buyback wallet was compromised on December 13, 2019, at 12:27 AM GMT, resulting in theft of 1.1B VET tokens (~$6.5M). Internal misconduct was suspected, with a trojan-infected machine containing keylogging software enabling attacker access to private keys. The VeChain Foundation issued an emergency patch causing Authority Masternodes to vote and freeze the stolen funds. On December 30, the community voted to permanently destroy 727M of the frozen VET.
Details
- Date
- Dec 14, 2019
- Kind
- Hack or exploit
- Method
- Private Key Compromised
- How in
- Keys, accounts and infrastructure
- Target
- Layer 1
- Chains
- VeChain
After the theft
- Frozen
- yes, amount not stated
“On December 30, the community voted to permanently destroy 727M of the frozen VET.” (DefiLlama)
Reported by
Related incidents
Cite this page
SwanBluechip, "VeChain hack, Dec 14, 2019: $6.5M lost", Crypto hack history, https://swan-hack-tracker.pages.dev/history/i/htf53ce76d6a/ (data as of 2026-10-31).