According to analysts, in 2022, the crypto industry lost $1.5 billion more than in 2021. The total value of stolen assets amounted to ~$3.9 billion.
Analysts at blockchain security company Immunefi published a report stating that hackers and scammers stole ~$3.9 billion of assets from the cryptocurrency industry in 2022, a 47.4% increase compared to $2.4 billion in 2021.
The report found that 95.6% of the lost funds (~$3.7 billion) were stolen by hackers, and only 4.4% of assets (~$171.6 million) were taken from users by cryptojackers, including the use of Rug Pull schemes.
In 2022, the amount of crypto funds lost by the community due to hacks and scams was:
- ~$1.2 billion in Q1;
- ~$670.7 million in Q2;
- ~$428.7 million in Q3;
- ~$1.6 billion in Q4.
Analysts also stated that the DeFi sector remained the most vulnerable. Decentralized finance projects reached ~$3.1 billion in losses, accounting for about 80% of all crypto losses in 2022. Meanwhile, the CeFi sector accounted for only 19.5% of crypto losses (~$760.5 million).
In 2022, DeFi projects were attacked 113 times, accounting for approximately 67.6% of all attacks reported for the year. The largest hacks of the past year were:
- the Ronin Network attack and the Wormhole hack in Q1 2022 — ~$950 million in losses;
- the Harmony Horizon hack and the Beanstalk attack in Q2 2022 — ~$282 million in losses;
- the Nomad Bridge and Wintermute attacks in Q3 2022 — ~$350 million in losses;
- the FTX hack and the BNB Chain bridge attack in Q4 2022 — ~$1.2 billion in losses.
Experts found that over half of all hacks in 2022 targeted the BNB Chain and Ethereum ecosystems, accounting for 63.3% of all attacks. At the same time, the BNB Chain network took the “lead,” with 65 targeted hacks in 2022, accounting for 36.1% of all crypto attacks for the year. In contrast, Ethereum suffered 49 attacks, accounting for 27.2% of the annual figure.
Recall that cross-chain bridges were considered the most vulnerable DeFi segment in 2022. Hackers managed to steal over $2 billion from various cross-chain protocols last year.
