According to a report from Immunefi, a bug bounty and security services platform for the Web3 ecosystem, the cryptocurrency industry lost almost 4 billion dollars in 2022.
In its report, Immunefi revealed that hacks were the primary cause of asset loss and accounted for approximately 95.6% of the $3.9b worth of lost funds. Then, scams, fraud, and rug pull made up the remaining 4.4%. The report also disclosed that Decentralized Finance (DeFi) took the brunt of these attacks.
Based on their analysis, Immunefi deduced that 80.5% of the asset loss happened in the DeFi sector, while Centralized Finance (CeFi) comprised the remaining 19.5%.
“DeFi has suffered $3,180,023,103 in total losses in 2022 across 155 incidents. This number represents a 56.2% increase compared to 2021 when DeFi lost $2,036,015,896 in 107 incidents.”
In addition, the report also showed that the more targeting chains were BNB and Ethereum, with BNB Chain overtaking Ethereum to take the number 1 spot in 2022
Speaking about Immunefi’s analysis, the platform’s CEO, Mitchell Amador, said:
“By proactively identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, we can protect the community from harm and build trust in the field. As we make the industry safer, everything else can flourish.”
In only December 2022, approximately $62 million worth of funds were stolen from DeFi protocols, which was surprisingly lower than in previous months. However, this is not to say that crypto asset loss will reduce in 2023.