It’s only halfway into October, and hackers could easily siphon off $718 million from DeFi protocols, making it the worst month for the crypto market in 2022.
The amount stolen is from 11 different hacks/exploits on the DeFi protocol, while four exploits happened on 11 October alone, in which $122 million was siphoned off. Hackers drained $118 million from Solana-native Mango Markets, $2 million from TempleDAO, $1.89 million from QANplatform’s Ethereum bridge, and $200,000 from Rabby Wallet.
1/ After four hacks yesterday, October is now the biggest month in the biggest year ever for hacking activity, with more than half the month still to go. So far this month, $718 million has been stolen from #DeFi protocols across 11 different hacks. pic.twitter.com/emz36f6gpK
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) October 12, 2022
2021 was the biggest year in terms of value and number of hacks, according to a Chainanlyisis report. But going by the recent pace of exploits of different DeFi protocols and blockchain bridges, 2022 could well surpass 2021. So far, the crypto market has lost over $3 billion in hacks and exploits across 125 hacks in 2022. Compared to the trends observed in previous years, around 90% of hacks have targeted DeFi protocols in 2022.
Hackers preferred to target cross-chain bridges, which are less secure and can be exploited easily. Out of the $718 million worth of exploits this month, 82% happened on cross-chain bridges. The most prominent one was the exploitation of the bridge between Binance’s BNB Smart Chain and Ethereum’s Beacon Chain, resulting in a loss of about $566 million.
The second-worst month was March 2022, when hackers were able to siphon off about $625 million or 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC in the Ronin Network breach. It was the largest single hack to date for the crypto market.
2021 witnessed around 200 hacks and exploits of blockchain protocols and recorded losses of more than $3 billion. Cross-chain bridges that facilitate a smooth flow of assets between two blockchains are the weakest and most vulnerable links. Experts believe that developers need to devote more time to fine-tuning technology to address the vulnerability.
