Cryptosphere lost 61% less to hacks in 2022 vs 2021 Cryptosphere lost 61% less to hacks in 2022 vs 2021
The total amount lost to hacks was $3.78 billion in 2022, as opposed to $9.795 billion in 2021.
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Updated: Jan. 9, 2023 at 9:54 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
The crypto sphere lost $3.78 billion to 303 blockchain-related security incidents in 2022, which is 61% less than the $9.80 billion recorded in 2021, according to a report by SlowMist.
Even though the number of hacking incidents has been growing steadily since 2020, the total amount lost to these attacks was the smallest in 2022. The year 2020 experienced 123 hacking incidents that cost $4.31 billion, which is 13.9% more than 2022’s $3.78 billion.
303 Hacks
The numbers revealed that most of these hacking incidents were experienced by DeFi, cross-chain bridges, and NFT ecosystems.
Throughout the year, 225 hacking events hit the DeFi, cross-chain bridges, and NFT ecosystems, which compensates for over %84 of all hacks. Crypto wallets came second in line with a total of 11 hacking attacks, while exchanges were placed third with ten hacking incidents.
Bridges, DeFi, and NFTs
The report also took a detailed look into the 225 hacks in the DeFi, cross-chain bridges, and NFT ecosystems.
DeFi
The year 2022 recorded 172 hacking incidents that targeted DeFi projects. Protocols built on the BNB Chain were the hottest target of the hackers, as the chain was hit by 79 different hacking incidents, which cost $785 million in total.
The second hottest target was the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. DeFi projects are built on the ETH blockchain and lost $528 million to 50 different hacking incidents.
Cross-Chain Bridges
There have been ten attacks on cross-chain bridges in 2022, according to the report. The most costly attack on the cross-chain bridges was the Ronin Network attack that took place on Mar. 29, 2022, and cost $610 million.
The attack on Solana’s Wormhole bridge was placed second. The attack took place on Feb. 2, 2022, and the hackers stole $326 million.
NFT
NFT ecosystems experienced 56 hacking incidents that resulted in losses totaling over $65.44 million.
The majority of these incidents were phishing attacks. A total of 22 phishing attacks were recorded throughout the year, which accounts for about 39% of the attacks in the NFT sphere.
Rug Pulls placed second by accounting for about 21% with 12 recorded incidents, while hacks where contract vulnerabilities were exploited followed as a close third with 17 incidents, accounting for 30%.
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Author 
Zeynep Geylan
Zeynep is an academic who turned to crypto in 2018. Originating in social sciences, she is especially interested in the social impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies and strongly believes in their transmuting power.
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