Cryptohackers stole more than $2.5 billion over three quarters in 2022
Cybercriminals are still aggressively exploiting blockchain technology and starting scams, even though the cryptocurrency industry is now experiencing a significant market correction.
In the third quarter of 2022, hackers managed to steal around $483 million in total, although there was a 43% decrease in the number of blockchain hacks in the last quarter compared to Q2, according to the findings of an analysis conducted by Atlas VPN shared with Finbold 25 .October.
The total money lost to blockchain hackers over the three quarters totaled $2,570,117,825, with the amount lost being determined by using the conversion rate of a specific cryptocurrency at the time the hack or fraud occurred.
The figures used in the analysis have been compiled by Slowmist hackedan organization that records information about abuses that have been publicly reported against blockchain projects.
Ethereum suffers the most losses
The Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem suffered the most losses, totaling $348 million across 11 attacks. Hacker attacks cost cross-chain interoperability technology Nomad bridge and crypto market Wintermute around $160 million.
In the list of the most serious losses, the Polkadot ecosystem (DOT) is second. Polkadot crypto projects lost $52 million in just two hacking incidents. Meanwhile, the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) ecosystem was hacked 13 times and lost $28 million in cryptocurrency, with hackers mostly targeting BSC-related crypto projects.
At the same time, the Solana (SOL) ecosystem lost over $6 million in cryptocurrency in three hack attacks. Across four instances, blockchain-related attacks resulted in $5.1 million in damages. Three times, cybercriminals attacked cryptocurrency exchanges and stole $6.8 million.
Meanwhile, the non-fungible token (NFT) netted cybercriminals over $4 million over the course of seven incidents. Other crypto-related projects lost $29.5 million in cryptocurrency as a result of 10 attacks.
Crypto-related hacks by quarter
In particular, the amount of money lost to blockchain hackers has decreased quarter after quarter. From over $1.3 billion in Q1 2022 to $810 million in Q2 2022. Total losses were reduced by 40% in Q3, totaling $483 million.
There were 55 blockchain hacks in Q3 2022, down from 96 in Q2. Data from the third quarter of 2021 shows a 28% decrease in blockchain incidents compared to the third quarter of this year. If the cryptocurrency market continues to slide, the fourth quarter will likely see a similar amount of hacks as the third.
Nevertheless, if we examine the first three quarters of 2021 and 2022, we can see that the number of hacks on blockchains has increased by 39% this year, increasing from 166 cases in 2021 to 230 in 2022.
