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Crystal Blockchain Report:
$12.1 billion worth of crypto-assets stolen since 2011
Crystal Blockchain, a globally distributed team of world-class blockchain analysts, has released its bi-annual report Crypto & DeFi Hacks & Scams Report. According to the research, there were 120 security attacks, 73 attacks on DeFi protocols, and 33 fraudulent schemes that have so far resulted in the theft of approximately $12.1 billion worth of crypto assets in total between 2011-2021.
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The report states that over $1.7 billion was stolen from DeFi protocols. According to Crystal’s experts this can be explained by the fact that the technology is new and still has a lot of vulnerabilities. The biggest DeFi breach to date occurred in 2021 to Poly Network, a DeFi initiative, targeted by a hacker, or hackers, who stole more than $614 million in tokens (worth noting that the majority of these funds have been returned).
A leader in the laundering of dirty bitcoins is BTC-e (indicted for money laundering in January 2017), which managed to launder over 200,000 BTC over several years. According to the Crystal database, over a third (39%) of all stolen BTC funds were distributed via Fraudulent Exchanges, defined as exchanges that have been involved in exit scams, illegal behavior, or who have had funds seized by the government.
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Key takeaways from the 2021 Crypto & DeFi Hacks & Scams Report by Crystal:
- The most popular method of crypto-theft has been the infiltration of crypto-exchange security systems.
- So far, $3.18 billion has been stolen through security breaches, $7.12 billion has been stolen through scams, and $1.76 billion through DeFi hacks.
- The most common locations for exchange security breaches are the US, the UK, South Korea, Japan, and China.
- In 2020–2021, DeFi hacks started trending and continue to grow.
- Ransomware is on the rise, with the most noticeable attacks in 2021 being on JBS (paid $11m to REvil ransomware) and Сolonial Pipeline (paid $7m to DarkSide).
- Scams using NFTs are also trending, with the market cap for NFTs having jumped by 1785% so far in 2021. Growing adoption inevitably leads to more bad actors in the space.
“Distributing up-to-date Security Breach and Fraud information helps highlight the current situation in the cryptocurrency world and shows how compliance services are essential for progress in the industry” – Marina Khaustova, CEO at Crystal Blockchain.
The latest report is available on the Security Breaches & Scams Page on our website.
CTA Contact us for your investigations at investigations@crystalblockchain.com
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