$1.5 Billion Stolen in Top 5 Crypto Heists of 2022: Forbes

[ad_1]

Cryptocurrency businesses have struggled a lot in 2022, with several companies facing financial issues and bankruptcy. In addition to these challenges, more than $3 billion has been stolen from crypto projects this year, according to Forbes. These setbacks have caused a stir in the industry and raised concerns about its stability.

According to the report, crypto projects witnessed more than 125 hacks, and the top five heists (all involving decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols) accounted for $1.48 billion of the total amount stolen.

DeFi protocols suffered the most losses in 2022

Forbes pointed out that these five biggest crypto heists range from cross-chain hacks, code exploits, and flash loan attacks.

The top five hacks are the $625 million Ronin Networks exploit, the $325 million theft of Wormholes, the $190 million hack of Nomad Bridges, the $182 million flash loan attack of Beanstalk Farms and the $160 million feat of Wintermutes.

According to the report, DeFi hacks account for around 49% of the total amount stolen by hackers this year. This has led to reduced investment in the sector, as data from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic shows that DeFi protocols lost 75% of their total value locked (TVL) in 2022. However, this also explains the fall in asset prices.

Data from DeFi Llama also shows that the TVL of DeFi protocols has increased from $166.58 billion at the start of 2022 to $39 billion in December.

The Forbes report said cross-chain bridges, which enable the exchange of tokens between blockchains, were the main target of hackers this year. Hackers have stolen nearly $2 billion from blockchain bridges, representing 70% of all crypto thefts in 2022.

Hackers love DeFi

Reports also show that DeFi has become a favorite playground for hackers despite its uniqueness. But how does it happen?

Blockchain analytics platform Chainalysis has reported that most thefts in the DeFi space are due to faulty code, where smart contract errors have been used to steal money from protocols.

The report explains that because the DeFi ecosystem is open source, anyone, including hackers, can scan for vulnerabilities or errors and plan exploits well in advance.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored) Binance Free $100 (Exclusive): Use this link to sign up and receive $100 free and 10% off Binance Futures fees for the first month (terms).

PrimeXBT Special Offer: Use this link to sign up and enter code POTATO50 to receive up to $7,000 on your deposits.

[ad_2]