Crypto Hacks Continue Unabated

Data from independent think tank The Money Mongers has revealed that since 2011, crypto hacks have costthe industry $12.36 billion, 30.74% of which came from 192 cryptocurrency exchanges that cumulatively lost $3.8 billion to cybercriminals.

The report highlighted that 297 crypto hacks were executed in 2023 alone and underlined that the industry loses an incredible $216,000 every hour.

The Ronin Network hack in March last year, which lost around $625 million, tops the list of the top 10 biggest crypto hacks. Second on the list is the Poly Network attack, which lost approximately $610 million on August10, 2021, followed by the Binance Smart Chain hack on October 6 last year, which lost 2,000,000 BNB worth $566 million at the time.

While the data includes exploits committed by malicious actors, it did not include exit scams, rug pulls, or theft committed by employees. The research findings reveal a cumulative loss of $12.36 billion since 2011 and $1.89 billion in 2023 alone, underscoring the urgent need for fortified security in the crypto domain.

While the potential of cryptocurrencies remains vast, these security breaches erode public trust. The crypto industry saw the highest amount of assets lost to hacks in 2022, amounting to $3.5 billion from 284 incidents. So far, 2023 has seen a considerably lower amount of cryptocurrencies lost to crypto hacks. This, however, is not due to a decrease malicious activity but because of the decrease in the value of crypto assets in the ongoing bear market.