• In the year 2022, bad actors have stolen approximately $3 billion from crypto hacks alone.
• The majority of these hacks have been from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
• The five largest hacks of 2022 include Ronin Network, Wormhole Network, Nomad bridge, Beanstalk Farms, and Wintermute.
The year 2022 has been particularly lucrative for bad actors who have managed to steal billions of dollars in crypto hacks. According to a Forbes report, citing a Chainalysis report, bad actors have stolen approximately $3 billion from 125 hacks in the year 2022 alone. This is a massive increase over previous years, and the majority of these hacks have focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
The DeFi space is relatively young, and the lack of established security protocols has left room for these attackers to exploit them for personal gain. Furthermore, the rapid development of these protocols has meant that adequate tests for security measures are not being carried out before they are pushed out. As a result, the attackers have been able to take advantage of this and reap the rewards of their malicious activities.
The report went on to detail the platforms which had lost the most to these hacks. It was revealed that an alarming $1.48 billion was stolen in only five hacks. The largest of these was the Ronin Network which saw $625 million stolen and was attributed to North Korean hackers. This was followed by the Wormhole Network which saw $325 million stolen. The third-largest for the year was the Nomad bridge which was exploited for $190 million. The fourth and fifth largest of the year were the Beanstalk Farms and Wintermute hacks which saw $182 million and $110 million stolen respectively.
These figures are truly astonishing and demonstrate the extent of the damage that can be done by malicious actors in the crypto space. It is clear that more needs to be done to ensure that these protocols are secure and can protect users‘ funds. Until this happens, it is likely that these bad actors will continue to take advantage of the situation and steal more funds.