Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis says the value of crypto assets stolen by cybercriminals has fallen by more than 50% in 2023 compared to 2022, largely due to a significant drop in hacking incidents targeting decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
In a new report, Chainalysis notes that hackers stole only $1.1 billion from DeFi protocols in 2023, compared to $2.5 billion in 2021 and $3.1 billion in 2022.
The number of DeFi hacks also fell 17.2% year-over-year and the average loss per DeFi hack fell 7.4%.
“Hacks of DeFi protocols largely drove the massive increase in stolen cryptocurrencies we saw in 2021 and 2022, with cybercriminals stealing more than $3.1 billion in DeFi hacks in 2022. But in 2023, hackers only stole $1.1 billion from DeFi protocols. This represents a 63.7% decrease in the total value stolen from DeFi platforms year-over-year.”
Citing Mar Gimenez-Aguilar, a principal security architect and researcher at blockchain security firm Halborn, the Chainalysis report says the drop in value stolen from DeFi platforms indicates operators are making improvements to the security of smart contracts. Hackers also had fewer protocols to target due to the overall decline in DeFi activity last year.
“We can’t say for certain whether the decline in DeFi hacks was primarily driven by better security practices or the decline in DeFi activity in general – most likely it was a combination of both.”
Chainalysis says there are potential consequences if the decline in DeFi activity is actually the main reason for the decline in hacking losses.
“It would be important to see if DeFi hacking rises again along with a new DeFi bull market, as this would lead to a higher TVL (total value locked) and therefore a larger pool of DeFi funds for hackers to target .”
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