Hackers To Steal $3.8 Billion From Crypto Firms In 2022, Says Chainalysis
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis on Wednesday published its upcoming Crypto Crime Report 2023 stating that 2022 was the biggest year ever for crypto hacks with $3.8 billion stolen from cryptocurrency trading . Furthermore, the firm goes on to explain that in terms of cryptocurrency hacking activity, the number spiked significantly in March and reached its peak in October—the month that was the “best ever for cryptocurrency hacking”. was the biggest single month since $775.7 million was stolen in 32 separate cases. The firm further states that “82.1% of all cryptocurrencies stolen by the hacking – totaling $3.1 billion” went to decentralized finance (DeFi). hacks. Noting that this percentage was up from 73.3% in 2021, the firm reports that 64% of the $3.1 billion came exclusively from cross-chain bridge protocols. Also told that hackers linked to North Korea…. have been the most prolific cryptocurrency hackers in the last few years so far.
If we dig deeper, it appears that in 2022 they broke their own record for theft and stole an estimated $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency in a series of attacks that we (Chainanalysis) have attributed.
Furthermore, the firm points out that hackers linked to North Korea stole the same amount of $1.1 billion from the protocol, making Korea “one of the driving forces behind the accelerated DeFi hacking trend in 2022.” The firm further states that all hackers linked to North Korea send large sums of money specifically to Mixer, which appears to be related to or a cornerstone of the money laundering process. The firm further elaborates that Tornado Cash was specifically used to launder all stolen cryptocurrency linked to North Korea sometime in 2021 and 2022. The Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash was approved by the US government in August last year.
