Crypto hackers steal $3 billion in 2022, set to be biggest year for digital-asset heists

moneycontrol.com:

Despite prices of cryptocurrencies crashing this year, digital currencies continue to remain cash vending machines for hackers. Investors have lost over $3 billion to hackers across 125 hacks in 2022 so far, which is likely to surpass 2021 as the biggest year for hacking on record, according to blockchain analytics company Chainalysis.

October is now the biggest month in the biggest year ever for hacking activity, with more than half the month still to go, the firm said. So far this month, $718 million has been stolen from DeFi protocols across 11 different hacks.

Moneycontrol lists the top 10 hacks this year intended to cripple the DeFi industry.

Ronin Network lost $620 million

In March, more than $620 million in ETH and USDC were stolen from Ronin Network, the Ethereum-based side chain for the cryptocurrency game Axie Infinity. In two transactions from the Ronin bridge contract, the attacker used compromised private keys to fabricate phoney withdrawals.

One user's failure to withdraw 5,000 Ether a week later led to the discovery of the exploit, which took place on March 23. The hacker made off with 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC. The heist is considered to be the biggest DeFi hack on Ronin Network.

Wormhole Bridge: $320 million in losses

A hacker stole around $320 million in wrapped ETH from the Wormhole protocol on February 2. This protocol connects Solana, Ethereum, Avalanche, and other major cross-chain crypto networks.

To mint wrapped ETH, a form of cryptocurrency whose value is tied to that of Ethereum, wormhole users need to stake Ethereum.

The vulnerability was attributed by analytics company Elliptic to Wormhole's disregard for "guardian" account validity enabling the attacker to create 120,000 ETH without any