Over $10b stolen in crypto heists, despite crypto crime slowing down

After stealing more than $3.5bn worth of cryptos in 2022, the worst year for crypto heists in the market`s history, crypto scammers and hackers have seen their inflows significantly drop in 2023. Still, the total amount of stolen money in crypto heists remains shocking.

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According to data presented by AltIndex.com, crypto criminals have stolen more than $10bn to date, despite crypto crime slowing down.

Only One-Fifth of Stolen Cryptos Recovered

Cryptocurrency heists took off in the last six years, going from only 15 hacks reported in 2017 to 136 in 2021, according to Comparitech data. The total value of stolen cryptos increased eight times in this period, jumping from roughly $324 million to a shocking $2.7bn. In August 2021 alone, nearly $730 million were lost to crypto security threats. Of this amount, $610 million was stolen by an individual in a Poly Network heist, which ended up being the second-largest crypto hack. However, last year, crypto crime exploded with crypto scammers and hackers taking more money than in 2019, 2020, and 2021 combined.

Statistics show 2022 saw 192 crypto heists, the highest number in the crypto market’s history, while hackers stole a mind-blowing $3.54bn of investor funds. Fortunately, the worrying trend slowed down in 2023, with crypto criminals stealing roughly $905 million in eight months, or less than one-third of the value seen in the same period a year ago.

So far, there have been 718 reported heists in which criminals stole $10.2bn worth of cryptos. Shockingly, only one-fifth of the stolen funds, or $2.6bn, have been recovered, with the average recovery time of roughly 75 days.

July Saw 43 Crypto Heists, the Highest Number to Date

While 2023 saw a huge drop in the total value of stolen cryptos, the number of crypto heists remains high.

Since 2011, there have been 718 cases of crypto heists worldwide, and 70% of them has happened in the last three years. Statistics show 2021 saw 136 crypto heists, 2.5 times more than the year before that. In 2022, the total number of crypto crimes jumped to 199, the highest figure to date.

Although crypto scammers and hackers stole only $905 million in the eight months of this year, 2023 still saw the second-largest number of crypto crimes or 178. A quarter of all reported heists happened last month, turning July into the worst month for crypto crimes to date.