From July to September of this year, financial losses in the cryptocurrency sector due to hacks, fraudulent schemes, and so-called “rug pulls” reached approximately $889.3 million. The losses break down as follows: $540.16 million from 43 hacker attacks, $282.96 million from 81 rug pulls, and $66.15 million from phishing attacks.
During the third quarter, losses in the crypto industry surpassed the total losses for the first half of the year, which stood at $655 million. A significant majority of these attacks (67.4%) targeted DeFi protocols, with 29 incidents reported. The most substantial loss was recorded during an attack on the Mixin Network blockchain, where $200 million was compromised.
Analysts have reported that only 10% of the stolen assets have been recovered. In a related note, analysts from Chainalysis highlighted that hackers from the DPRK appropriated assets worth $340.4 million. Remarkably, one third of this sum was pilfered in just two attacks, both attributed to the Lazarus group.
