According to a new report from blockchain analytics firm Crystal Blockchain, $ 2011 billion worth of cryptocurrencies has been stolen since 7,6. The thefts mainly occurred in two sadly predictable ways: hacks and scams.
Strengthen the security systems of exchanges
The report found that $ 2,8 billion was stolen due to security breaches, with the most prevalent case involving the security systems of a cryptocurrency exchange. In total, the company documented 113 security breaches; the biggest of these was the Coincheck breach in 2018, which saw hackers escape with over $ 535 million worth of NEM coins.
The United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, China, and South Korea have experienced the most exchange security breaches. US crypto services have been targeted 13 times, ranking at the top of the list.
Another $ 4,8 billion was stolen via scams, with Crystal Blockchain identifying 23 major fraud schemes. “We considered $ 7,6 billion as a total amount for all years.
Basically it's a cumulative sum from the past 10 years, ”said Kyrylo Chykhradze, Crystal Blockchain's product director. In terms of stolen value, China leads the pack.
The report attributed its ranking mainly to the Ponzi PlusToken 2019 scheme ($ 2,9 billion) along with the WoToken 2020 scam ($ 1 billion) which was linked to PlusToken here. quotations in real time. Most crypto exchanges that were hacked had insufficient security and low-level verification for withdrawals, such as just an email address or phone number.
Also, there was no multi-signature security altogether. Chykhradze said the main reason for vulnerabilities in technology is that the industry continues to evolve at a very rapid pace and more and more new companies appear on the market with inadequate or superficial internal security policies.
Hackers are becoming more sophisticated
The conclusion of the report is not encouraging. The report predicts that as the methods used by hackers have become increasingly sophisticated, attacks will continue to grow in number.
“But what has really changed is the way criminals launder stolen funds. They scrutinize the services to understand their [anti-money laundering / KYC] policies as well as the policies related to privacy coins in the service offering, ”he said.
“KYC's lower barrier services or privacy coin acceptance are better opportunities for money laundering. This is another critical point to consider in the security of crypto services. How can we make laundering of stolen funds nearly impossible for criminals? ”.
Concluding the report, Chykhradze said: “We can assume that the number of attacks and schemes will continue to grow with the growth of the blockchain sector and the cryptocurrency market, especially with this latest bitcoin bull run we are currently experiencing and the influx of new business ".
