BeInCrypto takes a have a look at the high traits for cryptocurrency scams and the largest incidents of 2022.
Between January and November 2022, hackers absconded with $4.3 billion price of cryptocurrency, in keeping with a latest report. This accounts for a roughly 37% enhance from 2021 year-on-year. But whereas the total quantity elevated, 2022 had the lowest particular person transfers to crypto scams over the previous 4 years.
Trending Crypto Scams
Just like final yr, most cryptocurrency hacks and scams in 2022 resulted from assaults on DeFi protocols, change platforms, and blockchain bridges. Roughly 72% of cryptocurrency stolen by hackers in 2021 got here from DeFi protocols, whereas 21% of all crypto hacks that yr exploited vulnerabilities in DeFi. This yr, roughly 97% of all stolen cryptocurrency was acquired from DeFi protocols. Meanwhile, breaches on cross-chain bridges account for an estimated loss of $1.4 billion in 2022.
According to Solidus Labs, 2022 noticed a 20% enhance in crypto scams in comparison with 2021, with rugpulls rising in prominence. In 2021, buyers misplaced $2.8 billion misplaced to rugpulls, wherein funding funds are instantly stolen by venture creators. Meanwhile, 2022 had greater than 188,000 incidents on varied blockchains, similar to BNB and Ethereum. Solidus Labs additionally reported that 12% of all BEP-20 tokens have been linked to scams, that means Binance’s BNB Chain skilled the most scams this yr.
One sort of cryptocurrency rip-off on the rise this yr was so-called pig butchering, or romance schemes. In these situations, con artists will seduce a sufferer on-line and persuade them to periodically spend money on crypto, solely to ultimately block them and abscond with the funds.Â
According to a ballot by Social Catfish, romance scams begin on courting apps (35%), Facebook (10%), and different varied apps. While victims misplaced over $139 million price of crypto to those schemes in 2021, Americans misplaced $185 million price of crypto to romance scams in Q1 2022 alone.
While Americans misplaced $329 million to cryptocurrency scams in Q1 2022, Australians misplaced $166 million all through the yr. Additionally, buyers in Hong Kong misplaced $50 million to cryptocurrency scams in 2022. Meanwhile, hackers affiliated with North Korea have stolen round $1 billion price of cryptocurrency from DeFi protocols.
Largest Incidents This Year
Yet as these varieties of crypto scams proliferated this yr, the greatest loss got here from a much more trusted supply. After cryptocurrency change FTX filed for chapter, an investigation revealed that between $1-$2 billion of buyer funds have been lacking. This makes it the largest cryptocurrency rip-off perpetrated this yr.
However, the subsequent two largest losses have been attributed to extra conventional means of crypto scamming talked about above. In March, hackers stole some $615 million in USDC and Ethereum from Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network. The third largest loss befell early in February when a hacker exploited the Wormhole protocol for about $325 million in Ethereum.
Disclaimer
BeInCrypto has reached out to firm or particular person concerned in the story to get an official assertion about the latest developments, however it has but to listen to again.