October Worst Month For DeFi Protocol Hacks, Chainalysis Reports

• DeFi Protocol hackers are reportedly high in October 2022.
• Chainalysis reported that $718M has been stolen from DeFi platforms across 11 different hacks, in 2022.
• Also, 2022 will likely outstrip 2021 as the biggest year for hacks.

Amid the growing number of hackers in the blockchain industry, October is now reportedly the biggest month of hacking activities in 2022. Chainalysis reported this fact and added that $718 million worth of crypto had been stolen from DeFi protocols. Hackers stole these funds from 11 different hacks. 

In a series of Twitter posts, Chainalysis wrote a detailed review of hacking records based on excavation since 2015. In the graph above, the highest number of hacks in 2022 was reported in March, with a value near $700 million. Meanwhile, as mentioned, October also went through fraudulent activities with a total of $718 million of value hacked.

The total value hacked in July was relatively low compared to other months. But, July and August witnessed an equal number of hacks.

Chainalysis also found that 2022 will likely surpass 2021 as the biggest year for hacking on record. Also, the hackers have grossed over $3 billion dollars across 125 hacks.

Furthermore, the blockchain analysis firm remarked that in 2019, hackers mostly targeted centralized exchanges, whereas, now the majority of the hacking activities are held on DeFi protocols.

As clear from the displayed chart, since 2017, hackers have been active on DeFi platforms, which increased in 2022. Both centralized and decentralized exchanges also suffered from fraudulent activities during 2015-2021. However, compared to the number of hacks in 2019, 2022 saw fewer hackers on exchanges. Importantly, Chainalysis tweeted that hackers also cherry-picked cross-chain bridges, where they breached three bridges in October alone. They stole nearly $600 million, accounting for 82% and 64% of losses this month and all year, respectively.