According to Crypto Presales, crypto theft cost the market $3.5 billion in 2022, one of the worst years on record.
The 2022 numbers even exceed the numbers of 2019, 2020, and 2021 combined. Combining all the figures since records began in 2011, the loss due to cryptographic security threats totals $8.9 billion.
Since 2011, 500 cases of crypto theft have been detected worldwide. Almost 65 percent of them happened in the last two years. According to a monthly analysis, October, April, and May 2022 are the worst months for crypto theft, with around 20 hacks reported each. Over the last five years, there has been an increase in crypto thefts.
The nine hacks reported in 2017 are a far cry from the 132 reported in 2021. In August 2021 alone, approximately $730 million was lost due to cryptographic security threats. This is mainly due to the Poly Network heist, which was the second-largest crypto hack of all time at $610 million. In total, hackers stole more than $2.7 billion that year.
Alarmingly, however, the number of attacks increased by 45 percent in 2022. Last year, 192 crypto thefts, which ranged from cross-chain hacking to code exploits, brought in $3.57 billion in investor funds.
The Biggest Hacks of 2022
In addition to seeing the most crypto hackers to date, 2022 also saw the biggest crypto thefts. In fact, three of the five biggest hacks of all time happened last year.
Game-based crypto network Ronin Network announced its hack in March 2022. This is one of the most notable hacks on the list, stealing a total of $620 million.
Seven months later, hackers launched a $570 million attack against Binance’s BNB chain. The October hack turned out to be the third-largest crypto theft to date. The hack drained at least two billion BNB tokens from its cross-chain bridge.
While the $110 million is still impossible to recover, the exchange’s response was able to stop the effort by freezing the tokens. However, the platform’s CEO sent an email to users in late December confirming that their assets were safe.
This was followed by the collapse of the $477 million FTX exchanged hands. The November hack remains the fifth-largest heist in the crypto space, with nearly $1.7 billion worth of crypto lost. According to HQ’s analysis of crypto platforms, one in seven crypto thefts occurred in the United States.
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