When crypto values rise in price, it also increases the interest of criminals. This is now also shown by a data analysis by the Australian provider Cryptohead. So far this year alone there have been 32 successful hacker attacks in the crypto sector. This means that the value is only slightly below the previous high of 38 attacks from last year. However, the criminals behind the attacks were already able to steal significantly more money this year.
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A total of around 2.9 billion US billion in cryptocurrencies were stolen from successful attacks this year. For the whole of last year, that figure was just $ 1.7 billion. The most successful year for criminals was 2017. At that time, more than $ 4.6 billion in crypto assets were stolen in 21 attacks.
Biggest crypto attack of all time came off lightly
The attack on the Poly Network is considered to be the largest successful hacker attack in the crypto sector. A stranger stole tokens worth more than $ 600 million. For the crypto project, however, the theft came off lightly in the end. The unknown attacker did not disappear with his prey, but entered into a dialogue with the makers of the Poly Network.
The attacker then promised to return his prey. He initially kept the equivalent of $ 200 million for himself, and later returned this sum as well. The operators of the Poly Network then thanked the hacker and even offered him a job as a security advisor.
The crypto exchange Liquid had less luck. The Japanese company was able to steal crypto assets worth more than 90 million dollars in August 2021. Shortly thereafter, Liquid agreed on debt financing from competitor FTX for $ 120 million.
