In 2021, hackers withdrew $ 680 million from decentralized finance (DeFi) projects during 70 hacks. A total of $ 1.4 billion was stolen, but $ 760 million was returned.
Most often, DeFi projects are hacked on the Ethereum blockchain – 34 hacks. In second place is the Binance Smart Chain with 25 attacks. In the networks of second-level solutions Polygon and Avalanche, 3 and 2 attacks were recorded, respectively.
Most often, hackers use “instant loans” attacks. These are loans, when tokens are taken and returned within one block. The tool has become extremely popular among hackers – in 2021, 34 attacks were carried out using “instant loans”.
Since instant loans are paid in the same transaction, it is very cheap to use this tool. For example, in May of this year, hackers received a loan of 61,800 ETH ($ 270 million at the time of the attack) and used them to attack the xToken project. They managed to withdraw assets worth $ 24.5 million. It is interesting that in August the attack on the project was repeated.
Recall that the Cream Finance project has been hacked three times this year. In all cases, the hackers used instant loans. The last time they managed to withdraw assets for $ 130 million.
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