Losses from cryptocurrency-related crime have declined in 2021, but theft in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has hit a record $ 156 million, according to a new report from analyst firm CipherTrace.
In the first five months of the year, cryptocurrency users lost $ 432 million due to the actions of cybercriminals. For comparison: for the whole of 2020, criminals stole $ 1.9 billion, a year earlier the figure was $ 4.5 billion.
Losses from cryptocurrency crimes are falling amid the rise in theft in DeFi. Data: CipherTrace.
CipherTrace stressed that more than 70% of all major hacks and fraudulent activities are associated with the decentralized finance sector. DeFi projects accounted for 60% of the total volume of thefts and burglaries – 25% more than in all of 2020.
Analysts did not include the $ 83.4 million in DeFi-related scams. Otherwise, the volume of thefts in the sector would reach $ 240 million.
DeFi Hacks & Scams Quarterly. Data: CipherTrace.
Experts associate the increase in the number of crimes in the sector with the popularity of this area of ​​the industry. According to DeFi Pulse, the volume of assets locked in decentralized finance protocols reached $ 80.93 billion, an increase of more than 30% over the past 30 days.
Recall that on May 12, the DeFi protocol xToken lost $ 25 million due to a hacker attack. The attacker simultaneously exploited two vulnerabilities in the project.
A previously unknown person withdrew $ 30 million from the liquidity pools of the Spartan Protocol project.
In April, the Uranium Finance project lost $ 50 million in Ethereum. The hack happened just a month after the platform was launched.
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