Blockchain Hackers Have Stolen Over $1 Billion in Q3 2021

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency hype have gotten a lot of attention in the past years.

According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, blockchain hackers have stolen over $1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in the third quarter of 2021. While blockchain-related hacks and scams continue to rise, the Ethereum ecosystem suffered from the most significant number of hack events and lost the most money during attacks.

The Ethereum ecosystem suffered 20 hack events and lost over $800 million in the third quarter of 2021. One of the most significant hacks was the Poly Network heist, in which the hacker stole $610 million from the cryptocurrency platform.

Next up, cryptocurrency exchanges had 5 hack events in which they lost $114 million. A noteworthy hack happened to a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Liquid, as cybercriminals took away about $90 million worth of digital coins.

Other types of hacks and scams have accumulated 28 events, throughout them losing $193 million. Such events include attacks against smaller ecosystems or rug pull scams.

Blockchain manipulations

The success of blockchain-related hacks and scams is bringing more and more cybercriminals looking for a quick buck.

A significant increase in blockchain-related hacks happened in 2019 when 133 events were seen. It indicates a 58% percent growth since 2018 when 84 hack events took place.

Through three quarters of 2021, there were more hack events than over the past three years — 146. It signifies a 20% percent increase since last year when 122 hack events and scams were seen.

While comparing more statistics from now and 2020, the Ethereum ecosystem and cryptocurrency exchanges remain the primary targets for hackers.