Once again, hackers have successfully pilfered billions of dollars in cryptocurrency, but a noticeable shift in the trend indicates a decline for the first time since 2020, according to reports from crypto security firms.
Throughout the year, hackers managed to abscond with approximately $2 billion in cryptocurrency through various cyberattacks and thefts, as reported by De.FI, the web3 security company responsible for the REKT database. The most significant incident recorded in history occurred during the breach of the Ronin network in 2022, where hackers made away with over $600 million in cryptocurrency. This year also saw the attack on Mixin Network, resulting in hackers gaining around $200 million.
De.Fi, in its report shared with TechCrunch, emphasized, “This amount, although distributed across various incidents, highlights the persistent vulnerabilities and challenges within the DeFi ecosystem.” The report acknowledged that 2023 showcased both existing vulnerabilities and ongoing efforts to address them, despite relatively subdued interest in the space due to the bear market in the first half of the year.
In December, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs released a similar estimate, stating that the total amount of cryptocurrency stolen by hackers in 2023 stood at about $1.7 billion.
Prominent cryptocurrency thefts this year include the hack against Euler Finance (nearly $200 million) and major breaches involving Multichain ($126 million), BonqDAO ($120 million), Poloniex ($114 million), and Atomic Wallet ($100 million), among others.
Comparatively, cybercriminals set a record last year by pilfering around $3.8 billion in cryptocurrency, with $1.7 billion attributed to North Korean government hackers known as the Lazarus Group. In 2021, hackers stole $3.3 billion, according to Chainalysis.
While predicting the landscape for 2024 remains uncertain, the prevalent poor security measures in many crypto and web3 projects, coupled with their significant monetary value, suggest that hackers are likely to persist in targeting the growing industry.