Victims of cryptocurrency breaches lost $62.2 million in December. The final month of 2022 saw the lowest monthly figure of the year.
The platform admitted that the year's overall losses have surpassed $3.76B.
The Helio Protocol breach was the biggest event of the preceding month according to the $15M in damages it caused. By using BNB as collateral, the Helio Protocol makes it feasible for HAY to function as a "destablecoin." Too much collateral supports the asset's claim to 7% yield.
The attacker took advantage of the Ankr Protocol by converting Ankr Reward Bearing Staked BNB (aBNBc) into hBNB and stakeing it in Helio Protocol. Then they loaned millions of dollars in BHAY0 in exchange for HAY0. HAY lost its peg to the dollar following the exploit, however it has now been restored thanks to a repurchase and burn by the developer team.
#CertiKStatsAlert 🚨
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) December 31, 2022
Combining all the incidents in December we’ve confirmed ~$62.2M lost to exploits, hacks and scams.
The lowest monthly figure this year.
Exit scams were ~$15.5M
Flashloans were ~$7.6M
See the details below 👇 pic.twitter.com/1ub3mYVv6K
The second-largest incident of December was the loss of over $12M sustained by Defrost Finance as a result of an alleged flash loan attack. The hacker reportedly obtained $173,000 by exploiting the Defrost V1 protocol. In a more serious V2 assault, a perpetrator liquidated user shares using a phony collateral token and a false price oracle in order to steal $12.9 million.
Among the most prominent hacks this month were those of BitKeep, Ankr, and Lodestar.
Losses from exit scams were $15.5M, Flash loans brought in roughly $7.6 million in the meantime, a decrease from H2 2022. Similar flaws cost April an astounding $300.5M, with Lodestar the victim of the most destructive flash attack.
Based on significant instances through 2022, March and November are the deadliest months. In March and November, exploits cost the economy more than $715 million each time. In January, May, July, and December, there were fewer losses ($179M, $98.8M, $65.5M, and $61M, respectively) on the exploit and scam front.
The November update states that there were 36 big attacks throughout the month, costing $595 million in losses. $477 million from FTX was the largest theft that month. The alarming increase in DeFi hacks has perhaps been the year's second most obvious trend, following the fall of numerous crypto juggernauts like Celsius and FTX.
#CertiKStatsAlert 🚨
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) December 1, 2022
36 major attacks were recorded in November totalling a loss of ~$595 Million.
As always, make sure a project has an audit & KYC before investing!
Remember to always #DYOR and read the audit reports! pic.twitter.com/UhiDU2itAm
The most popular cross-chain bridges are still in place.
Cross-chain bridges are the target of 50% of DeFi vulnerabilities.
The perils of self-custody were highlighted at the beginning of the year when a seasoned Bitcoin developer disclosed that he had lost $3.6 million worth of Bitcoin.
