- Most of the companies or platforms that have fallen victim to a crypto heist are located in the US.
- Although the number of attacks has significantly risen this year, the value of cryptocurrency stolen is much lower.
Crypto heists can occur in a number of ways, including hacking into cryptocurrency exchanges, stealing private keys or passwords, and exploiting vulnerabilities in blockchain technology. Since 2011, crypto thieves have stolen coins worth 9 billion USD at the time of the theft. Since some of those cryptocurrencies have skyrocketed in the meantime, they are now worth more than 47 billion USD.
There has been a 45% increase in the frequency of crypto heists from 2021-22
Data from cryptomonday.de shows that 2022 has been the year with the most crypto heists. Last year, criminals stole cryptocurrencies worth 3,519,040,668 USD in 197 thefts. In contrast to 2021, the number of crypto heists between 2021 and 2022 increased by 45%. The biggest crypto heist in history took place on the 29th of March 2022, when the Ronin Network was hacked and the attackers stole 620 million USD.
In the first two months of this year, there have already been 28 thefts – more than in the twelve months of 2017 (15). Compared to January and February 2022, the number of thefts has risen. From 8 in January 2022 to 13 in January 2023 and from 9 in February 2022 to 14 in February 2023. But although the number of heists is higher, the value of cryptos that have been stolen is significantly lower than in 2023. Last year, the thieves stole 525,256,767 USD, whereas the 27 attacks this year only resulted in 146,756,269 USD.
The 10 biggest crypto heists so far this year
In seven of the 27 crypto heists, the thieves were able to capture cryptocurrencies worth millions of USD. Here are the biggest heists that have taken place this year:
| Date | Company Name | Amount Stolen (USD) |
| February 2023 | BonqDAO | 120,000,000 |
| February 2023 | Platypus | 8,500,000 |
| January 2023 | LendHub DeFi | 6,000,000 |
| February 2023 | dForceNet | 3,500,000 |
| February 2023 | Orion Protocol | 3,000,000 |
| February 2023 | LianGo Protocol | 1,628,169 |
| February 2023 | Dexible | 1,540,000 |
| January 2023 | Midas Capital | 660,000 |
| January 2023 | Thorium Finance | 580,000 |
| February 2023 | SperaxUSD | 309,000 |
Besides the bigger heists, there have also been a number of attacks where the thieves only got away with a small amount of cryptocurrency. One of them was the attack on Robinhood in January 2023, where the attackers stole only 1,000 USD. Similar to that one, the attack on ThreeBody (3,000 USD) in January as well as the attack on DAYUDAO (3,300 USD) in February were quite small.
Most of the companies or platforms that have been robbed are located in the US (87), followed by the UK with 20 attacks. Besides the UK, Switzerland also had numerous crypto heists (15). In Germany, the number is much lower, with only 4 attacks.
Jonathan Merry, CEO of CryptoMonday.com.Crypto heists have significant consequences. Not only for the platforms and individuals who lose their funds, but also for the broader ecosystems. Those attacks can erode confidence in cryptocurrencies, and may also result in regulatory crackdowns and increased security measures. If you want to protect your coins from being stolen, there is one piece of advice you should follow: “Not your keys – not your coins”. As long as your cryptos are on an exchange, there is the risk of that exchange being robbed. To mitigate that risk, you can store your coins in a secure wallet, like a ledger and take precautions such as using two-factor authentication and avoiding phishing scams.
