Losses from crypto hacks surged 60% to $1.9 billion in Jan-July -Chainalysis
According to a blog post from blockchain analysis, losses from cryptocurrency attacks increased by over 60% in the first seven months of the year to $1.9 billion. This increase was driven by a rise in money stolen via decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.

According to a blog post published on Tuesday by blockchain research company Chainalysis, losses from cryptocurrency thefts increased by over 60% in the first seven months of the year to $1.9 billion, driven by a rise in money stolen through decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
The amount of money taken via hacking over the same time period last year was $1.2 billion.
DeFi apps are financial platforms that allow lending in cryptocurrencies outside of conventional banks, with many of them running on the Ethereum blockchain.
Given the $190 million attack of the cross-chain bridge Nomad and the $5 million hack of numerous Solana wallets just in the first week of August, Chainalysis highlighted that the trend is unlikely to change any time soon.
In the blog post, Chainalysis stated that "DeFi protocols are particularly vulnerable to hacking, as their open source code can be studied in-depth by cybercriminals looking for exploits and it's possible that protocols' incentives to reach the market and grow rapidly lead to lapses in security best practices."
The U.S. company said that "bad actors" connected to North Korea, particularly renowned hacker groups like Lazarus Group, are responsible for a large portion of the money taken via DeFi protocols.
According to Chainalysis' calculations, organizations connected to North Korea have so far this year stolen around $1 billion in cryptocurrencies through DeFi protocols.
In keeping with the drop in the price of digital assets, the blockchain intelligence company saw a steep 65% reduction in crypto frauds from January to July. The total income from scams in the year to July was $1.6 billion, a 65% decrease from the $4.46 billion in the same period the previous year.
Scammers may pose as reputable companies and sell fake cryptocoins or tokens.
According to Kim Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis, "Scams are down partly due to the crypto slump, but also due to the numerous law enforcement successes taken against scammers and the product solutions that exchanges may employ to counter scamming."
According to CoinGecko, the market value of cryptocurrencies as of late Thursday was $1.1 trillion, a decline of more than 50% from the $2.35 trillion record at the start of the year. Bitcoin's price has fallen by around 48% so far this year, and in recent months it has been ranging between $20,000 and $24,000.
According to Chainalysis, scam-related earnings have decreased along with the price of bitcoin since January 2022. In addition to a decline in scam revenues, 2022 saw the fewest total individual transfers to scams over the previous four years.
According to the analysis from Chainalysis, "such figures show that fewer individuals than ever are falling for bitcoin frauds."
"This may be due in part to the fact that, with asset values down, cryptocurrency scams, which often pose as passive crypto investment possibilities with huge promised returns, are less alluring to prospective victims," the report reads.
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