According to Immunefi’s report, hacks were the primary cause of related losses.
Immunefi, a bug bounty and security services platform for the Web3 ecosystem, revealed on Jan. 6 that the crypto industry will lose 3.9 billion dollars in 2022.
The report found that hacks were the leading cause of losses, accounting for 95.6% of the total, with fraud, scams, and rug pulls accounting for the remaining 4.4%. Immunefi also discovered that decentralised finance (DeFi) was the most targeted sector, with losses of 80.5% compared to 19.5% for centralised finance (CeFi). The following is stated in the report:
“DeFi has suffered $3,180,023,103 in total losses in 2022, across 155 incidents. This number represents a 56.2% increase compared to 2021, when DeFi lost $2,036,015,896, in 107 incidents.”
The most targeted chains were BNB and Ethereum, with BNB Chain surpassing Ethereum to become the most targeted in 2022. The industry lost approximately 1.6 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2022, with DeFi accounting for 57.6% and CeFi accounting for 42.4%.
Immunefi CEO Mitchell Amador stated:
“By proactively identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, we can protect the community from harm and build trust in the field. As we make the industry safer, everything else can flourish.”
According to CertiK, an on-chain monitoring and bug bounty company, December DeFi exploits were the lowest in 2022, according to Cointelegraph’s Finance Redefined newsletter on January 5th. It appears that cryptocurrency hackers and exploiters have slowed down in preparation for the 2022 holidays.
In December 2022, funds totaling $62 million were stolen from decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols. Although this figure was lower than in previous months, cybersecurity experts warned that exploits, flash loans, and exit scams will not decrease in 2023.
