According to data analyzed by the Atlas VPN team, hackers have stolen $13.6 billion through 330 blockchain hacks to date. Hacks aimed at EOS DApps were the most common making up almost 36% of all blockchain-related breaches, while blockchain wallets hacks were the most profitable, costing victims a whopping $199.93 million per breach.
The report shows that:
- To date, hackers have netted $13.6 billion through 330 blockchain hack events
- EOS DApps had the most hacks — 117 (36%) breaches collectively amounted to $28.28 million in losses
- Next up are cryptocurrency exchanges — 87 breaches amounted to $4.82 billion in losses
- Also, in the top three in terms of the number of breaches are blockchain wallets — 36 hacks amounted to $7.19 billion
- Blockchain wallet hacks were the most profitable, costing victims $199,932,146.7 per breach
- The number of successful hacks in 2020 H1 dropped more than three times compared to 2019 H1
Blockchain-related hacks are on the decline
Since blockchain technology was first invented in 2009, it has gone through many stages — from the introduction of the first cryptocurrency bitcoin to smart contract creation to the initial coin offering craze and beyond. However, blockchain hacks have evolved over the years as well.
The data from previous years shows that the number of blockchain-related hacks grew by 1450% from 2 registered breaches in 2012 H1 to 31 breaches in 2020 H1. In fact, the first half of 2020 saw more than ten times the amount of blockchain-related breaches than the entire year of 2012 when 3 blockchain breaches were registered.
However, the number of successful hacks in 2020 H1 dropped more than three times compared to the same period last year. Indeed, 2019 was a record year for blockchain hackers, who launched 94 successful blockchain attacks in the first half of the year alone and a total of 133 successful blockchain attacks in 2019 overall.
Since 2020 is not over, we can expect more blockchain-related breaches to happen before the end of the year. Nevertheless, based on the historical data, it seems that 2020 will not reach the record heights of last year, and blockchain hacks will remain on the decline.