Over $30 Billion Stolen Since 2012
A shocking revelation comes from the latest SlowMist report, disclosing that more than $30 billion worth of cryptocurrencies has been stolen from 2012 to the present day, scattered across 1,101 documented incidents. This accounts for nearly 3% of the current market cap of all listed cryptocurrencies.
Smart Contract Vulnerabilities Leading the Charge
The blockchain security firm identifies the top five most common types of hacks: smart contract vulnerabilities, rug pulls, flash loan attacks, scams, and private key leaks. These events collectively account for about 2.5% of the present cryptocurrency market capitalization.
A Breakdown of the Incidents
The report further categorizes the incidents, reporting 118 exchange hacks, 217 Ethereum ecosystem hacks, 162 BNB Smart Chain ecosystem hacks, 119 EOS ecosystem hacks, and 85 NFT-related hacks. Of all these, exchange losses were the most substantial, costing over $10 billion in the past decade.
The Changing Pattern of Security Breaches
Notably, security incidents that resulted in losses of over $1 billion reached their peak during the early 2010s and between 2019 and 2021. However, there’s been a noticeable drop in such events from 2022 onwards, echoing findings from other reports.
High-profile Attacks and Recovery Efforts
Major attacks in the early days of Bitcoin included the infamous Mt. Gox and Bitfinex hacks. The Mt. Gox exchange filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after losing 850,000 customer BTCs ($25.2 billion today) through a series of low-key hacks over years. The exchange managed to recover 200,000 BTC ($6.1 billion today) and has been redistributing them to creditors.
In 2016, Bitfinex underwent a security breach that led to a loss of 119,576 BTCs, worth approximately $70 million then and a staggering $3.7 billion today. In a major breakthrough on Feb. 8, 2022, special agents from the U.S. Department of Justice managed to recover 94,000 of the stolen BTCs.
