A recent report by SlowMist, published in July 2023, disclosed that documented incidents from 2012 to the present have resulted in over $30 billion worth of cryptocurrency being hacked, amounting to 1,101 incidents in total.
According to our SlowMist Hacked archives, as of July 7, 2023, the total losses from #blockchain related incidents have soared to an astounding $30 billion! 🤢
In light of these staggering numbers, it's abundantly clear that projects and users alike need to place a much higher… pic.twitter.com/9LC07PD4Xe
— SlowMist (@SlowMist_Team) July 7, 2023
According to Slowmist, this represents 2.5% of the current total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies with the following incidents noted as the most common in the sector:
- Smart contract vulnerabilities
- Rug pulls
- Flash loan attacks
- Scams
- Private key leaks
Among the documented incidents, there were:
- 118 hacks targeting exchanges
- 217 hacks within the Ethereum ecosystem
- 162 hacks within the BNB Smart Chain ecosystem
- 119 hacks within the EOS ecosystem, and
- 85 hacks related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
Notably, the most substantial losses occurred in exchange hacks, totaling over $10 billion lost over the past decade.
Hack events resulting in losses exceeding $1 billion reached their highest point in the early 2010s and again from 2019 to 2021. However, security incidents have been relatively subdued since 2022, aligning with findings from other reports.
During the early years of Bitcoin, significant attacks included the 2014 hack of Mt. Gox and the 2016 hack of Bitfinex.
Mt. Gox, which was the largest Bitcoin exchange at the time, filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after uncovering that 850,000 BTC belonging to its customers (equivalent to $25.2 billion at the time) had been stolen through various discrete hacks and embezzlement over a span of several years.
Subsequently, the exchange managed to recover 200,000 BTC (worth $6.1 billion) and is in the process of redistributing them to creditors.
Similarly, in 2016, Bitfinex experienced a security breach that led to the theft of 119,576 BTC, valued at approximately $70 million at the time and approximately $3.7 billion in today’s value. However, in February 2022, special agents affiliated with the United States Department of Justice successfully recovered 94,000 of the stolen BTC.
In the latest analysis by another blockchain cyber-security firm, CertiK, $300 million worth of digital assets were lost to cryptocurrency hacks and exploits during the second quarter of 2023.
Compared to Q2 2022, hacks and exploits resulted in a loss of $745 million, representing a 58% decrease in the amount of funds lost during the reported period.
Among the blockchains studied for CertiK’s report:
- BNB Chain had the highest number of incidents, with a total of 119, resulting in losses of $70,711,385
- Ethereum ranked second, with 55 incidents resulting in hackers obtaining $65,999,953
_______________________________________
