December Lowest Month of 2022 for Crypto Thefts: CertiK

December Lowest Month of 2022 for Crypto Thefts: CertiK

The digital asset industry experienced many unprecedented events in 2022, making it one of the worst years in crypto history. Despite the challenges, cybercrime activity fell significantly in December compared to previous months such as October, which saw a sharp increase in crypto hacks and thefts.

According to blockchain security firm CertiK, the industry suffered losses of about $62.2 million in December, the lowest monthly figure in 2022.

Cybercrime activity decreases in December

Blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis revealed that the industry lost more than $3 billion in 125 hacks from January to October 2022.

October was dubbed “Hacktober” due to the number of crypto hacks during the period. The month ended with 44reportedAttacks causing $657 million in damage.

However, crypto thefts slowed in December, with only a few companies affected. While October saw 11 exploits within the first two weeks that resulted in losses of more than $500 million, December saw only 11 attacks during the month.

Crypto theft victims in December included Helium Protocol, Defrost Finance, BitKeep, Ankr, Lodestar and Raydium Protocol, which lost approximately $15 million, $12.9 million, $8 million, $7 million, $6.5 million and $5.5 million respectively. respectively.

#CertiKStatsAlert 🚨

Combining all December incidents, we confirmed that ~$62.2 million was lost to exploits, hacks and fraud.

The lowest monthly value this year.

Exit fraud totaled ~$15.5 million

Flash loans totaled ~$7.6 million

See the details below 👇 pic.twitter.com/1ub3mYVv6K

— CertiK Alarm (@CertiKAlert) December 31, 2022

Flash loan attacks and rug pulls amount to $23 million

Aside from crypto hacks, the industry suffered losses of around $7.6 million from flash loan attacks and $15.5 million from exit scams, also known as rug pulls.

Exit scams occur when software developers create and launch a project only to abandon it after attracting wealthy investors to the platform.

An example of this scam is the alleged rug pull on the Defrost Finance platform on December 23rd. According to reports, the DeFi protocolsuffereda flash loan attack on its V2 that resulted in the loss of millions of dollars belonging to users.

While blockchain security firm CertiK claimed that the attack was an exit scam after conducting investigations, cryptocurrency security firm Peckshield also claimed that it was a rugpull as it had received information from the community before the incident.

DeFi-focused security firm DeFiYieldSec also claimed that an insider carried out the attack, claiming that the multi-sig wallet used to request an oracle change before the attack belonged to the protocol's creator.

However, on December 29, Defrost Finance denied these allegations, calling them “defamatory and inaccurate.” The protocol said it recovered the funds and plans to redistribute the stolen assets to affected users.

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