Cryptocurrency hackers managed to steal a record $ 19 billion in 13 years

Over the past 13 years, the cryptocurrency industry has suffered from 785 incidents and lost more than $ 19 billion. Analysts of the blockchain security platform Crystal Intelligence published a 40-page report in which they collected data on all known hacks and frauds from June 19, 2011, to March 6, 2024.

According to estimates, 220 cases were security breaches, 345 were decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks, and another 220 were fraudulent schemes.

The largest cryptocurrency theft occurred in 2019. Back then, criminals stole $ 2.9 billion in BTC and ETH using the scandalous Ponzi scheme PlusToken. Since then, cybercrime has continued to grow.

The record year for the number of incidents was 2023. In 286 cases of digital asset theft, crypto criminals stole $ 2.3 billion. However, the year 2022 is the leader in terms of losses, when crypto projects lost almost $ 42 billion as a result of 199 incidents.

Over the past two years, the Ethereum network has been the main target of hackers, with 131 incidents worth $ 1.3 billion. It is followed by the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which suffered 100 attacks worth $ 186 million.

As a reminder, the well-known North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group continues to carry out large-scale cyberattacks on cryptocurrency projects and networks. Experts estimate that the total amount of stolen digital assets exceeds $ 2 billion. A new investigation conducted by an anonymous ZachXBT analyst reveals details of how the Lazarus Group laundered more than $ 200 million in cryptocurrencies obtained through criminal means.