The cryptocurrency industry has lost just over $30 billion to hackers since 2012, with more than 30% ($10.95 billion) stolen from centralized exchanges, according to a study. implementation By blockchain security firm SlowMist.
Security firms report that from 2012 to 2023, these exchanges survived 118 hacks, with the most severe two occurring in 2021, accounting for nearly $5 billion in overall losses. It is said that
The data also shows that the majority of large-scale hacks occurred during market bull cycles.
By comparison, hackers have been able to extract less than $1 billion directly from blockchain networks and cryptocurrency wallets during this period. Hot wallets alone lost $408.9 million, while blockchain networks lost a relatively small $207.2 million to malicious attackers.
The non-fungible token (NFT) sector has lost $200 million, mostly due to phishing links and social engineering scams.
Finally, bridge protocol hacks accounted for just over $2 billion of the total money stolen during this period.
ecosystem loss
The data reveals that Ethereum and the BNB chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain) have suffered the most from hackers in terms of both the number of hacks and the amount of money lost.
Hackers stole $3.1 billion from the Ethereum ecosystem in 217 separate hacks. On the other hand, BNB Chain lost him $1.45 billion in 162 separate hacks.
Despite being the third most frequently targeted, the EOS ecosystem suffered relatively small losses totaling $25.9 million. In contrast, Solana and Polygon, despite their lower number of attacks, suffered significant losses of $202.7 million and $177.9 million, with 13 for Solana and 16 for Polygon.
The Avalanche network was compromised eight times, with cumulative losses amounting to $127.7 million.
The research also includes data from chains such as Tron, Fantom, Polkadot and HECO. In total, these chains have survived less than 50 hacks and lost less than $200 million.
Finally, according to SlowMist, the remaining $10.9 billion of the total stolen funds fall into the “Other” category. This category includes all other types of blockchain hacking, fraud, rug pulling, and various forms of digital theft that are not explicitly mentioned.
