2022 Big Year for Blockchain Hackers

Blockchain hackers stole more than $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 2022, according to data collected by the Atlas VPN team.

Blockchain bridges lost $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in just 16 events. Ronin Network sidechain bridge suffered the biggest hack of the year, as the attacker walked away with $610 million.

Furthermore, the BSC ecosystem lost more than $870 million in 76 attacks or scams in 2022. The Ethereum ecosystem is not far behind, with 49 events resulting in losses of more than $500 million in cryptocurrencies.

Other crypto-related projects and people were victims of 48 hacks, causing nearly $370 million in losses.

Vilius Kardelis is a cybersecurity writer at Atlas VPN.

“As the use of blockchain technology continues to grow and become more mainstream, we can expect to see a corresponding increase in the number of hacking attempts targeting these systems,” he said.

Despite the fall of the crypto market in 2022, cybercriminals are still targeting blockchain networks and exchanges for their financial gain.

In 2022, cybercriminals and scammers caused 301 blockchain incidents. Last year, hacks rose by 27% compared to 2021, when researchers registered 237 blockchain events.

The first quarter of 2022 started strong with 79 blockchain incidents, the most recorded in a quarter at that time. However, in the second quarter, hacks were up by 24% and reached new heights at 98 events.

Due to fallen prices of most crypto, blockchain hacks dipped significantly to 56 events in the third quarter, a 43% drop compared to the second quarter. While the crypto market is still down, blockchain hackers and scammers came back with more schemes in the last quarter of the year, with 68 incidents and more than $1 billion in stolen profit.