Crypto Crime Reduced By 60% This Year While DeFi Hacks Explode

Crypto crime reduced by 60 percent this year while the DeFi hacks and thefts exploded in 2020 according to reports from CipherTrace that we have in our crypto news.

In 2019, a crypto crime like hacks, fraud, and thefts reached $4.5 billion according to the data that we have in our news by forensics company CipherTrace which shows that the number for this year dropped to $1.8 billion which means crypto crime reduced by 60%. However, The Defi space saw an explosion in criminal activity this year. In a conversation with Reuters, CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans explained that the crypto exchanges and digital asset trading facilitators have improved their security game. This came after more than ten years of exploration from crypto platforms by hackers and attackers.

This explains the huge 60% reduction in the mainstream crypto crime cases from $ 4.5 billion in 2019 to $1.8 billion in 2020. What we can see is that the exchanges and other crypto players implemented a lot of security procedures as well as taken guidance and new security protocols to protect their funds better.  However, a disturbing trend that CipherTrace observed can be seen as well this year. the report showed that the digital asset-related thefts and attacks without the fraud and misappropriation hit $468 million as of October. This marks a 30 percent increase from the $361 million figure for the entire 2019.

The DeFi hacks contributed to 20 percent of this years’ number according to the blockchain analytics company. 20% of these hacks came from the decentralized finance or DeFi space which are transactions on platforms that facilitate lending services outside of banks. cipherTrace explained that the rising trend of DeFi attacks to the ETH-based ecosystem growth this year. the total USD value that is locked In the DeFi protocols is already on the way to hit the $13 billion mark.

This is huge growth, compared to 2019 when the total DeFi market value reached $680 million. Jevans observed that these hacks in2 019 were near negligible but this year companies and individual users rushed the Defi products to market that have not gone through the security verification process and validation. He continued to call the decentralized finance markets a potential “haven for money launderers” because these protocols are permissionless by design and sustainability reduces the access barrier for people worldwide.