Crystal Blockchain, a provider of blockchain data and analytics, has released a study covering security breaches, fraud, and scams related to cryptocurrencies and distributed finance (Defi) The company has released the results of the study. According to the study, approximately $16.7 billion in crypto assets have been stolen since 2011. Last year, Crystal’s intelligence team recorded 199 incidents, resulting in the theft of $4.17 billion in crypto assets. Since the beginning of this year, there have been 19 incidents resulting in $136 million stolen.
Top countries targeted in crypto-related incidents. U.S. tops in frequency, China tops in value
On Tuesday, {/netabare} 18, Crystal Blockchainreleased a report providing a comprehensive analysis of fraud and security vulnerability attacks since 2011. The report reveals that 461 incidents have occurred in 45 countries over the past 12 years, with $16.7 billion in crypto assets stolen.
According to Crystal’s intelligence report, 231 defihacks, 135 security attacks, and 95 fraud schemes were reported during this period. Defihacks ranked second in value with $4.81 billion stolen, while fraud resulted in over $7.5 billion in crypto assets stolen.
According to the study, the United States has the highest number of incidents against crypto companies and bad actors. However, in terms of overall value, China ranks highest due to the 2019 Plus Token Ponzi scam and the 2020 Wotoken Ponzi.
Crystal researchers say that attacks against crypto exchange security systems were the most common until 2021, but since then attackers have shifted to decentralized financial hacking. Currently, Crystal reports that hacking centralized exchanges (cex) causes the least financial damage.” In 2022, the ratio of cex versus [decentralized exchange (dex)] hacks was as high as 1:13,” the Crystal researchers noted.
The largest defi hack to date was the Ronin network bridge hack in March 2022, which resulted in losses of over $650 million; most of the funds stolen in the Ronin hack were transferred to Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency blending service.
Crystal researchers noted that “Tornado Cash remains the most popular service for money laundering on the Ethereum blockchain.” According to the report, crypto assets stolen from the top 10 defi exploits last year exceeded $2.61 billion. Additionally, non-fundable token (NFT) rag pulls will be prevalent in 2022, and Crystal counts “48 successful scams” in the past year.
Read Crystal Blockchain’s full report here here .
Image credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Crystal Blockchain,