The crash in the valuation of the main cryptocurrencies has not stopped the hacks. On the contrary, 2022 is on its way to becoming the year in which the most digital currencies have been stolen, worth 3,000 million dollars -3,100 million euros-.
According to data compiled by the specialized blockchain company Chainalysis, only in October 718 million dollars -740 million euros- were stolen from various platforms, the worst month on record. "At this rate, 2022 is likely to overtake 2021 as the year with the highest piracy," they say from the firm.
Most of the targets are so-called decentralized finance, or DeFi, protocols that implement software-based algorithms to allow investors to trade, borrow and lend without a central intermediary.
Hackers have become adept at exploiting weaknesses in the security, encryption, and structure of DeFi markets. In some cases, hacking groups with state support are behind it. Chainalysis estimates that North Korean-affiliated organizations have stolen approximately $1 billion in crypto from DeFi protocols.
In October there have been about eleven hacks of a certain size. Two of them have shaken the cryptocurrency sector in recent days. One was a heist in which a hacker took about $100 million from the Mango DeFi service, manipulating its token price and emptying customer deposits. And last week two million Binance Coins disappeared, equivalent to almost 570 million dollars, about 590 million euros. While much of it was frozen, some $100 million was not recovered, according to a statement from the Binance platform.
In August, nearly 8,000 wallets on the Solana blockchain were hacked, stealing more than €5 million worth of cryptocurrency.
