Blockchain hackers stole over $2.5 billion in three quarters of 2022
Even though the cryptocurrency market is in a deep slump, cybercriminals are still actively hacking blockchain technologies or launching scams.
According to the data analyzed by the Atlas VPN team, blockchain hackers stole $2.5 billion in three quarters of 2022. In total, hackers got away with nearly $483 million in Q3 2022. Despite that, blockchain hacks fell by 43% in the last quarter compared to Q2.
The data is based on the numbers provided by Slowmist Hacked, which collects information about disclosed attacks against blockchain projects. Monetary losses were calculated based on the conversion rate of a particular cryptocurrency at the time of a hack or scam event.
The Ethereum ecosystem suffered the most significant losses of $348 million over 11 hacks. The cross-chain interoperability protocol Nomad bridge and crypto market Wintermute each lost about $160 million in crypto due to hacker attacks.
The Polkadot ecosystem takes second place on the most significant losses list. The Polkadot crypto projects lost $52 million in just 2 hack events. Next is the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) ecosystem, which was hacked 13 times and lost $28 million in crypto. Hackers attacked BSC-related crypto projects more than any other.
At the same time, the Solana ecosystem lost nearly $6 million worth of crypto in 3 hack events. Blockchain-related hacks caused $5.1 million in losses throughout 4 incidents. Cybercriminals hacked crypto exchanges three times and got away with $6.8 million. The Fantom ecosystem also suffered one hack event in which hackers stole $1.7 million.
Meanwhile, non-fungible token (NFT) projects earned scammers nearly $4 million in 7 events. Other crypto-related projects accumulated $29.5 million worth of crypto losses throughout 10 hacks.
The money lost to blockchain hackers has continued to decrease quarter by quarter. From nearly $1.3 billion in Q1 to $810 million in the second quarter of 2022. In Q3 total losses fell by 40%, accumulating to $483 million.
Blockchain hacks fall significantly
While cryptocurrencies live through the bear market, hackers are also less active. However, blockchain hacks and scams remain a significant issue causing millions of losses to crypto projects and investors.
Since the start of the year, the total cryptocurrency market cap has decreased by 58%. Most crypto prices have been falling for months, which caused cybercriminals to pull away from performing hacks. After the significant crypto crash in June, blockchain hacks continued to fall from 24 in July to 21 in August, and only 10 incidents in September.
When comparing the third and second quarters of 2022, blockchain hacks fell by 43%, from 96 in Q2 to 55 events in Q3. Numbers from Q3 2021, compared to the same quarter this year, also show a decrease in blockchain incidents of 28%. If cryptocurrencies remain in the bear market, the number of hacks in Q4 will likely be similar to Q3.
Nonetheless, if we take a look at the first three quarters of 2021 and 2022, this year, blockchain hacks have increased by 39%. They have gone up from 166 incidents last year to 230 in 2022. Over the previous two years, Q2 2022 was the most devastating month, as hackers performed 96 hacks and scams.
In 20212 Q1, hackers stole nearly $2 billion from their victims.
Blockchain technology has been a great example of how security principles in financial transactions and information transmission are revolutionizing. Despite that, the technology is still susceptible to cybercriminals who exploit it for their benefit. Many crypto projects get hacked, or scammers set up rug pulls to steal from investors.
