THE amount of funds crypto projects lost to hackers has declined by about half to around US$1.7 billion so far this year, amid improved security measures and an uptick in law enforcement actions.

Even with any additional hacks in December, this year will likely “finish with significantly lower totals than 2022,” according to TRM Labs, which helps clients detect financial crimes. Last year’s tally of US$4 billion from crypto hacks included a number of large thefts, such as a US$600 million-plus attack on a blockchain network called Ronin bridge that was connected to the Axie Infinity game.

“While we are always one Ronin-size hack away from a record setting year, the global focus on cybercrime is likely to, at least in part, mitigate some of the activity which is critical in order for the overwhelmingly lawful ecosystem to grow,” said Ari Redbord, global head of policy and government affairs at TRM.

The top 10 hacks had netted criminals almost 70 per cent of all stolen funds this year, TRM found. Attacks against decentralised lending app Euler Finance, Multichain bridge connecting different blockchains, and Poloniex crypto exchange netted US$100 million each, for example.

Infrastructure attacks – such as private-key theft that gives hackers access to a crypto project’s servers or software to steal funds or manipulate trades – contributed to nearly 60 per cent of the total stolen this year, according to TRM. BLOOMBERG