Crypto hacks are rising this year, with investors losing millions of dollars each month, possibly contributing to the industry’s ongoing weakness.
Crypto Hacks Cost Investors $1.46 Billion in the Last 12 Months
Data shows that investors have lost over $1.46 billion in the last 12 months, with April being the worst month. Investors lost over $644 million during the month and $161 million in the next three months.
The most recent crypto hack affected Bonk, where its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was drained of over $20 million. Bonk price tumbled and approached its all-time low after this hack.
The biggest hack this year affected Drift Trade, a Solana-based decentralized perpetual futures trading platform that lost over $295 million in assets. In the same month, hackers compromised a bridge and attacked Kelp DAO, stealing $293 million.
KelpDAO’s attack was notable as it affected stETH, putting Aave, the biggest decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, at risk. It was saved by DeFi United, which raised millions to keep the platform running.
Balancer lost $128 million in a hack in November last year, while BtcTurk lost $44.2 million in August last year. Other top crypto hacks in the last 12 months were companies like GMX, Swissborg, Step Finance, and Upbit. Upbit, the biggest crypto exchange in South Korea, lost over $36 million in November last year.
These hacks are in addition to last year’s $1.4 billion Bybit hack, where users drained Ethereum tokens. Other top hacks in the crypto industry included LuBian ($3.5 billion), Ronin Bridge ($624 million), and Poly Network ($611 million).
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Crypto Investors Have Lost More Than the Reported Hacks
Crypto investors have also been victims of other events in the past few months. For example, thousands of people lose millions of dollars a year in elaborate investment scams. This is where investors are lured to invest funds and earn double- or triple-digit returns monthly.
A good example of this was CBEX, which described itself as an AI platform that could double users’ cash within months. It collapsed last year, costing thousands of users millions of dollars.
In addition to these, investors have lost millions of dollars in elaborate pump-and-dump schemes. A good example of this is the Trump meme coin that skyrocketed before the inauguration. A recent NYT report showed that over 1 million people lost billions of dollars when the token collapsed.
At the same time, initial coin offerings (ICO), where developers solicit funds from investors and then disappear, have continued this year.
These events show how difficult it is to regulate the crypto industry. For one, while some countries have enacted their regulations, others have not. For example, it is easy to launch a cryptocurrency, pump it, and cash out before users discover it.
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