New research shows that the average amount of funds stolen in cryptocurrency hacks has doubled since last year, which means more damage to crypto.
The number of cryptocurrency hacks has surprisingly decreased since the beginning of 2022. BestBrokers research shows that the cryptocurrency industry has seen 64 security breaches as of mid-June. This amount is significantly less than the 251 hacker attacks in 2021. Despite the decrease in the number of hacking attacks, the average amount stolen during these operations has increased by 206% compared to 2021.
Read more: The future of digital currencies in 2022
Increase in funds stolen in cryptocurrency hacking attacks
According to CryptoSlate research, in 2021 the cryptocurrency industry saw 251 hacking attacks. During these attacks, hackers stole around $3.2 billion worth of crypto assets. As of mid-June this year, however, around $1.7 billion in digital assets had been stolen in just 65 attacks. CryptoSlate noted in part of its report:
Despite the decrease in the number of cryptocurrency hacking attacks in 2022, the amount of capital stolen has increased dramatically.
The latest data from Chainalysis shows that the average amount of funds stolen per crypto hack this year is $26.6 million. This amount has increased by about 206% compared to the average of 12.9 million dollars in 2021 and about 466% compared to the average of 2020.
According to published research, it can be understood that hackers will pursue bigger goals in 2022. The DeFi market is the favorite space for hackers in 2022. These people will be able to steal larger assets through decentralized protocols.
About 72% of all stolen cryptocurrency funds in 2021 were related to DeFi protocols and services. This year, this amount has increased to 97%. Robert Hoffman, digital currency analyst at BestBrokers, believes that the DeFi sector has become the main target of hackers due to the large amount of capital. The competitive nature of the cryptocurrency market is such that the protocols that are launched the fastest will have the greatest chance of success in the market. Hoffman continued his statement:
The competition to create a digital financial system in the fourth industrial revolution is very fast. Shareholders compete with each other for first place. If the time to market is short, various aspects of the product, including security, will be vulnerable.
The technical nature of smart contracts and the expertise required to program them leaves a lot of room for hackers to manipulate and infiltrate. Hoffman believes that once DeFi becomes mainstream, many of its security issues will disappear. This happens to any technology that is widely used.
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Source: cryptoslate