// STARTUP AUTOPSIES · CAUSE

Security Failure: Startup Failures

16 startup autopsies where the primary cause was security failure. Direct analysis with verified data.

16 autopsies · newest deaths first

Atomic Wallet

cryptoEstonia2023

5 million users trusted Atomic Wallet; North Korea's hackers drained $100M in a silent supply chain attack.

Fraud Explosion

Sky Mavis / Ronin Network

gamingVietnam2022

Axie Infinity's blockchain bridge was hacked for $625M — the largest crypto theft in history — and the play-to-earn model never recovered.

Sudden Collapse

Mango Markets DAO

cryptoUSA2022

A hacker drained $116M from a DAO, tweeted about it openly, and called it legitimate trading.

Fraud Explosion

Nomad Bridge

web3USA2022

The cross-chain bridge that was drained of $190M in hours by a crowd of copycat exploiters reusing the same bug

Sudden Collapse

Beanstalk Farms

web3USA2022

The DeFi stablecoin protocol that was drained of $182M in 13 seconds via a governance flash loan attack

Sudden Collapse

Axie Infinity / Sky Mavis

gamingVietnam2022

The play-to-earn revolution ended with a $625M North Korean heist and collapsing token rewards.

Sudden Collapse

Ronin Bridge (Sky Mavis)

gamingVietnam2022

The $625M Ethereum bridge hack attributed to North Korean state hackers — the largest crypto theft in history at the time

Sudden Collapse

Mirror Protocol

cryptoSouth Korea2022

The Terra-based synthetic stock protocol lost $90M to an oracle exploit then died with Luna

Regulatory Kill

Cashaa

fintechUK2022

The UK crypto bank that lost 336 Bitcoin in a hack and never recovered operationally

Sudden Collapse

Wintermute

cryptoUK2022

$160M drained in minutes by an exploit the team knew existed but hadn't patched

Sudden Collapse

Wormhole Bridge

cryptoUSA2022

The Solana-Ethereum bridge was exploited for $320M in the second-largest DeFi hack ever

Sudden Collapse

Furucombo

web3Taiwan2021

One spoofed Aave contract address wiped out $15M and ended a DeFi dream.

Fraud Explosion

Votem

saasCanada2020

Blockchain couldn't save votes from its own vulnerabilities.

Fraud Explosion

VinDAX

cryptoVietnam2019

VinDAX was hacked for $500K just months after launch, exposing how listing-fee-hungry micro-exchanges cut security corners.

Sudden Collapse

Coincheck

cryptoJapan2018

$534 million vanished overnight because basic crypto security was ignored.

Fraud Explosion

VoteApp

saasUSA2018

Digital democracy, deleted by a security flaw.

Regulatory Kill

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Security Failure: Startup Failures

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