technology

Hackers stole nearly $2 billion in cryptocurrencies in 2023: report


Hackers stole around $2 billion in cryptocurrencies in 2023, a substantial decrease from an all-time-record of around $3.8 billion in 2022, according to De.FI, a Web3 security firm that runs the REKT database

Among the major hacks this year was Hong Kong-based crypto company Mixin that saw $200 million being stolen in a data breach that occurred in September.

Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses

Offering College Course Website
IIM Kozhikode IIMK Advanced Data Science For Managers Visit
IIT Delhi IITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine Learning Visit
IIM Lucknow IIML Executive Programme in FinTech, Banking & Applied Risk Management Visit

In March, Cyber-criminals stole about $197 million from crypto lending platform Euler Finance.

According to De.FI, the $2 billion in crypto hacking this year, “though dispersed across various incidents, underscores the persistent vulnerabilities and challenges within the DeFi ecosystem”.

“2023 stood as a testament to both the ongoing vulnerabilities and the strides made in addressing them, even as interest in the space was relatively muted by the ongoing bear market in the first half of the year,” De.Fi wrote in its report shared with news publication TechCrunch.

In December, leading crypto exchange HTX witnessed a net outflow of $258 million after a $30 million hack in November.

Discover the stories of your interest


Atomic Wallet, a mobile and desktop crypto wallet allowing users to store various cryptocurrencies, witnessed a security breach in June and lost over $35 million in crypto assets.Over $7 billion in cryptocurrency has been illicitly laundered through cross-chain crime, with North Korea’s Lazarus Group being linked to the theft of around $900 million between July 2022 and July of this year.

Readers Also Like:  Mr. Beast beats Mark Zuckerberg, becomes first person to hit 1 million followers on Threads

According to the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, cross-chain services are fast becoming the preferred money laundering method for a range of cybercrimes, including scams and crypto thefts.

Cross-chain crime refers to the swapping of crypto assets between different tokens or blockchains — often in rapid succession and with no legitimate business purpose — to obfuscate their criminal origin.

Last year, Blockchain monitoring firm Chainalysis reported cryptocurrency hackers stole $3.8 billion, making it the worst year on record for crypto investors, up from $3.3 billion in 2021.

Stay on top of technology and startup news that matters. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest and must-read tech news, delivered straight to your inbox.



READ SOURCE

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.