As of October 31, 2022, hackers have stolen double the amount of money from crypto protocols as of the entire last year. Crypto losses totaled nearly $3 billion this year, a quarter of which the attackers withdrew in October.
Analysts at PeckShield shared statistics on hacks of various cryptocurrency protocols this year on Twitter. As of late October, hackers have managed to steal $2.98 billion in crypto, which is double the amount stolen in 2021.
Previously, Chainalysis analysts called 2022 “the biggest year for hacking,” as hackers broke productivity records in October. Experts from PeckShield confirmed that around a quarter of all funds stolen this year were withdrawn in October, dubbed Hacktober by the crypto community. In October, cybercriminals carried out 44 exploits affecting 53 cryptocurrency protocols. They stole $760 million within the month, about $100 million of which were returned.
Another study found that cross-chain protocols proved to be the most vulnerable market segment. Nearly 70% of all stolen money in 2022 came from this particular sector. Blockchain bridges also suffered the largest losses in October. For example, the attack on Binance’s internal cross-chain bridge brought the attackers about $100 million.
PeckShield analysts point out that roughly 80% of stolen funds during Hacktober were withdrawn from BNB Chain, which became the most exploited blockchain network in October. Hackers succeeded in stealing $586 million worth of crypto-assets within the month.
Solidus Web3 AML, a new tool for analyzing crypto transactions, showed that one in eight smart contracts on BNB Chain is fraudulent.
