674 million dollars of stolen crypto recovered in 2023

A significant $674 million worth of stolen cryptocurrency was successfully recovered in 2023, according to a report by blockchain security company PeckShield. This sum recovered represents a portion of the funds lost at more than 600 major hacks.

According to PeckShield data, total losses from hacks and scams in 2023 were $2.61 billion, excluding multichain losses. This figure shows a 27.78% decrease from 2022, when global cyber thefts totaled about $3.6 billion.

The company highlighted that the recovered amount of $674 million, about 25% of the stolen cryptocurrency, was a notable increase from the $133 million recovered in 2022. The increase in recovered funds is attributed to more effective negotiations with hackers and the implementation of bug bounty programs, as well as collaborations with centralized exchanges, Tether and law enforcement to freeze and recover funds.

The report also sheds light on several aspects of cryptocurrency theft, including flash lending attacks, which accounted for 40% of hacks in 2023, and the continued vulnerability of decentralized finance (DeFi) to hacks and scams. Despite improvements in DeFi security, it remains a significant target for malicious activity.

In addition reported PeckShield a 25% drop in laundering of stolen crypto funds in 2023, dropping to $342 million from the $460 million recorded in 2022. Despite this decrease, 67% of losses in 2023 occurred in DeFi, and 58% were due to hacks, while the remaining 42% were due to scams.

The report also noted a shift in the type of cryptocurrency targeted by malicious hackers. While Bitcoin dominated illicit transaction volumes from 2018 to 2021, stablecoins saw an increase in use for such transactions in 2022 and 2023.