Hackers Hijack $3.5B in 2022 Crypto Attacks – Report

According to the fact curator blog Digital Information World, hackers made away with almost $4 billion in crypto last year.

Crypto has hit a roadblock in terms of hackers activities much to the disappointment of investors who believe that the decentralized nature of blockchain technology should make it less susceptible to fraud and scams. 

Blockchain security firm SlowMist also confirmed that about $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies was stolen by hackers in 2022.

Markedly, blockchain bridges and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) ecosystem were the core targets of these bad actors. Through sixteen blockchain bridge attacks, almost $1.2 billion was stolen amongst which is the Axie Infinity Ronin bridge’s $625 million attack.

For the BSC ecosystem attacks, there were 76 losses worth around $870 million. The BNB Chain scam valued at $588 million which happened in October was one of the biggest of such attacks. Collectively, both protocols recorded up to $2 billion in loss from 92 scams and attacks. This is not to say that Ethereum (ETH) and other ecosystems were left out of the theft scheme. 

Crypto Hacks Inspires Mistrust

The ETH ecosystem also suffered a crypto loss worth more than half a billion dollars from 49 attacks. Popular blockchain intelligence company Chainalysis also released a report in October stating that crypto attacks had hijacked up to $3 billion. In that month alone, up to 11 Decentralized Finance (DeFi) attacks were recorded worth around $718 million at the time. 

While there is no certainty as to who the perpetrators of this crime are, it was alleged that North Korean hackers were responsible for a large percentage of these attacks. It is believed that in the last five years, North Korean hackers have stolen up to $1.2 billion in cryptocurrencies which have been used to evade several international sanctions. 

These huge numbers have caused many investors to express doubt about the nascent industry coupled with the FUD which many anti-crypto entities are promoting. CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer and United States economist Peter Schiff have shown their non-support for crypto and have asked investors to reduce their portfolio’s exposure to the speculative asset class by selling off their holdings.