How Much Cryptocurrency Has Been Stolen?

As indicated by the reports from cryptocurrency intelligence firm, CipherTrace’s Q3 Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering, as of quarter 3 of 2018, cryptocurrency thefts had reached $927 million.

The blockchain cybersecurity experts identified theft as well as hacks at platform layers and exchanges to be a major issue, evolving further from its Q2 findings.

In the CipherTrace report on second quarter of 2018, the company discovered that there were more thefts amid the first of the year as compared to the whole year of 2017 alone. Some $731 million worth of digital currency was stolen from exchanges with a few of the most notable hacks incorporating that of Japanese exchange Coincheck at $530 million, and BitGrail which lost about $195 million dollars’ worth of tokens.

As of the Q3 report, the number currently stands at $927 million lost in cyber attacks and CipherTrace predicts that this trend will continue. By the end of the year, the theft was reported to be about $1 billion.

As a matter of fact, the report dependably leaves out some $50 million that swindled in CoinHoarder phishing attempts, the company further claims to be aware of nearly $60 million cryptocurrency which was stolen but not made public.

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How Such A Big Amount Was Stolen?

Well, the HOW remains sadly predictable throughout the year.

Truth to be told, exploiting vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency wallet software as well as servers, social engineering compromises and inside theft.

The who covers equally predictable territory with lone wolf offender opportunists at the lower end of scale through to well-resourced nation-state actors at the other.

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Who Stole Such A Huge Amount of Cryptocurrency?

The report outlines the main cryptocurrency thefts of Q3 2018 as Bithumb, which lost about $30 million in a cyber intrusion, and Bancor which lost about some $13.5 million owing to a breach in a smart contract, and was obliged to temporarily shut down operations.

Coinrail, another Korean exchange, also lost over $40 million in altcoins, while the Bitcoin Gold 51% attack netted thieves in excess of $18 million.

It’s the fact that the US came out being one of the most vulnerable nations to cryptocurrency theft, with 56% of all the attacks happening there.

With digital currency tanking and holders’ portfolios losing value regularly, the last thing they require is to get their cryptocurrency stolen owing to cyberthreat.

This report just goes to highlight the significance of correctly storing your virtual currency in a hardware wallet. Never leave it exposed in a hot wallet on a cryptocurrency exchange where a hacker has a good chance of reaching your funds.

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Kapil Gauhar

Kapil Gauhar is the founder of Blogger’s Gyan. He is a Passionate Blogger, a Big Thinker and a Creative Writer. His passion for doing friendship with words and letting people know about the wonders of the Digital World is what motivates him to take writing as a career.