Crypto hackers set for record year after looting over $3 billion: Report

Cryptocurrencies may have crashed this year but they remain a digital cash-machine for one potent constituency: hackers.

At least $718 million has been stolen so far in October alone, taking the gross tally for the year past $3 billion and putting 2022 on course to be a record for the total value hacked, according to blockchain specialist Chainalysis Inc.

Most of the targets are so-called decentralized finance — or DeFi — protocols, which deploy software-based algorithms to enable crypto investors to trade, borrow and lend on digital ledgers without using a central intermediary.

Hackers have become adept at exploiting weaknesses in the security, coding and structure of DeFi marketplaces.