A total of $7.6 billion worth of cryptocurrencies have been stolen by hackers and scammers since 2011, according to a new report published by Amsterdam-based blockchain analytics firm Crystal Blockchain.
According to the report, reported on by CoinDesk, $2.8 billion were stolen through security breaches, with the most popular breach being against the security systems of cryptocurrency trading platforms. In total, 113 breaches were document, with the largest one being against Coincheck in 2018.
At the time, the cryptocurrency exchange saw hackers, believe to be associated with the Lazarus group, take over $535 million worth of NEM from its wallet. In terms of exchange security breaches the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, China, and South Korea experienced the most breaches, with U.S. services topping the list.
When it comes to value stolen, China was in the lead over the PlusToken Ponzi scheme, which stole over $2.9 billion from investors, and the WoToken scam, which stole over $1 billion.
Kyrylo Chykhradze, a product director of Crystal Blockchain, was quoted as saying:
We deemed $7.6 billion as the total amount for all the years combined in one sum. Basically a cumulative sum for the last 10 years.
Chykhradze added that the main reason for the vulnerabilities being exploited is that the tech industry continues to evolve at a very fast pace, and more entities appear on the market with “neglected” internal security policies.
The report, the publication adds, predicts that as hackers’ methods become more sophisticated, attacks are set to grow in number in the future. With the latest BTC bull run to test $16,000, he added, the firm assumes “hat the number of attacks and schemes will continue to grow.”
Featured image via Pixabay.
