Cryptocurrency investors globally lost a total of $3.9 billion to hackers and fraudsters in 2022. This is according to a report by g bug bounty and security services platform for web3, Immunefi.
A breakdown of the loss shows that $3.7 billion was lost to hacks in 2022 across 134 specific incidents, while $174.9 was lost to fraud across 34 specific incidents.
Most of the sum lost to fraud was lost by four specific projects: Ronin Network, BNB Chain, Wormhole, and FTX.
The loss was, however, a decline compared to what hackers and fraudsters stole from crypto investors in 2021, the report says. The 2022 figure represents a 51.2% decrease compared to 2021 when hackers and fraudsters stole $8.08 billion.
Major exploits: Immunfi in the report noted that the crypto industry suffered some of the largest hacks in its history in 2022. The five major exploits of the year totaled $2.36 billion alone, accounting for 59.8% of all losses in 2022.
These include $625 million on Ronin Network; $650 million on FTX; $326 million on Wormhole; $190 million on Nomad; and 570 million stolen on BNB Chain.
Losses by Chain: The report disclosed that BNB Chain and Ethereum were the two most targeted chains in 2022.
- “BNB Chain suffered the most individual attacks with 65 incidents, representing 36.1% of the total attacks across targeted chains. This number represents a 51.2% increase compared to 2021, when BNB Chain witnessed 43 attacks. Ethereum witnessed 49 incidents, representing 27.2% of the total incidents across targeted chains. This number represents a 8.9% increase when compared to 2021, when Ethereum witnessed 45 attacks,” Immunefi stated in the report.
Other key highlights of the report include:
In 2022, hacks continued to be the predominant cause of losses as compared to frauds, scams, and rug pulls. Fraud accounted for only 4.4% of the total losses in 2022, while hacks accounted for 95.6%.
- DeFi continued to be the main target of successful exploits at 80.5% as compared to CeFi at 19.5% of the total losses.
- The two most targeted chains in 2022 were BNB Chain and Ethereum. BNB Chain surpassed Ethereum and became the most targeted chain in 2022, with 65 incidents, while Ethereum witnessed 49 incidents.
- In total, $204.1 million of stolen funds have been recovered across 12 specific instances. This number represents just 5.2% of the total losses in 2022
