During the first quarter of 2022, crypto projects lost more than $1.22 billion as a result of the actions of hackers and scammers. This is 695% more than in the same period a year earlier, Yahoo Finance reports with reference to the Immunefi report.
The focus of the attackers’ activity turned out to be the DeFi ecosystem.
Up to 99% of losses are related to software exploits, including the largest hacks of Wormhole and Ronin since the beginning of the year — by $319 million and $625 million, respectively
According to experts, this is not an anomaly. This type of attack will continue to spread, while cases of fraud against investors will decrease.
“We should expect that such incidents will occur more often, as more and more criminal groups acquire their own skills of hacking DeFi. In addition, as the sector grows, these hacks become more profitable,” said Mitchell Amador, founder and CEO of Immunefi.
According to Amador, after the peak of the market in November 2021, the number of newcomers entering it has decreased. This has generally made investors less susceptible to opportunities to fall for fraud due to experience.
The founder of the RugDocsIO project under the pseudonym Rug Doctor also noted that the growth in the number of DeFi platforms has played a significant role in increasing the number of expensive thefts.
Projects are increasingly moving beyond Ethereum due to high fees and choosing first-tier networks such as Solana, Avalanche, Polygon, Algorand, Polkadot or Cardano. However, the number of auditors and security specialists has not kept pace with innovations, the Rug Doctor stressed.
“Many protocols don’t invest enough in security. We see more and more talented programmers coming to DeFi, including attackers. The sector should encourage capable developers and engage in security more than before. We need grants, educational programs and industry standards,” the expert believes.