2022 DeFi Hacks: 47.4% Losses Recorded

Following the massive attacks by hackers on Decentralized Finance (DeFi) in 2022, a Chinese blockchain security firm LianAn Technology published a report on Jan. 5 that exploits across blockchains were tallied at $3.64 billion.

While analysing the massive loss to crypto scams, it was gathered that more than $1.40 billion funds stolen from DeFi were carted away through Tornado Cash within the period.

Meanwhile, the $3.64B represented an increase of 47.4% compared with the marginal loss of $2.44 billion lost in 2021 to hackers.

However, funds lost during cross-chain bridge amounted to $1.89 billion in 12 various incidents, which is the historic highest in the category. It was gathered that attacks on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana ecosystem topped the chart. 

Despite the fact that audited projects signified reliability and authenticity, 51.5% of breaches occurred in audited projects, while 48.5% occurred in non-audited projects.

It is noteworthy that only $289 million worth of funds were reportedly recovered last year. Although it is believed that more recoveries were made, they are yet to be publicly disclosed.

In the same vein, Blockchain security services Beosin published a report on Jan. 5 corroborating the earlier claim that 167 major attacks were recorded in the Web3 space in 2022.

According to the Global Web3 Security Report 2022, 10 security incidents lost more than $100 million in a single attack and losses of 21 security incidents ranged between $10 million and $100 million.

🚀We just released the Global Web3 Security Report 2022🚨This report is co-produced by @Beosin_com @BuidlerDAO @LegalDAO_CN & @Footprint_Data 💪

📍Read the text version⏬https://t.co/hOhV5PO2b9
📍Download the full report in PDF⏬https://t.co/5PhD3g9vVq pic.twitter.com/j9PetIwOjM

— Beosin 🛡 Blockchain Security (@Beosin_com) January 5, 2023

Additionally, money laundering accounts for $7.33 billion while attacks/exploits cost $3.6 billion. Also, pyramid schemes gulp $1 billion and scams take up $830 million.

Overcoming Crypto Hackers in 2023

Against the backdrop of the fact that crypto scams and hacks rose in 2021, there is a compelling need to address this scourge head-on. Already, the FBI has warned investors to be wary of smart contracts.

While Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis established early Oct. 2022 that attacks last year surpassed previous year, this is a wake-up call for developers to prioritize Web3 security in order to avert a similar trend in 2023.