Hackers stole half a billion dollars in cryptocurrencies and NFTs in half a year

• Hackers stole half a billion dollars in cryptocurrencies and NFTs in the first half of 2023

In just the first six months of 2023, attackers stole $457 million in digital currencies and about $40 million more in non-exchangeable tokens The total value of cryptocurrencies and NFTs stolen by hackers in the first half of 2023 was $497.73 million, according to PeckShield. In June alone, hackers committed 42 hacks of crypto projects, stealing $92.5 million worth of cryptocurrencies. In addition, attackers stole $2.27 million worth of NFTs in the first month of summer.

The largest amount in cryptocurrency was stolen in the Atomic Wallet cryptocurrency attack in early June - about $65 million, according to Peckshield. A week after the hack, cybersecurity firm Elliptic estimated the damage to be more than $100 million. The total amount of cryptocurrencies stolen by hackers in the first six months of the year was $457.78 million. In the first three months of the year, $255.8 million in cryptocurrencies were stolen: in January - $8.8 million, in February - $35.5 million, and in March - $211.5 million. In the second quarter, the damage was $201.98 million: for April - $93.4 million, for May - $16.03 million, and for June - $92.55 million.

NFTs worth $39.95 million were also stolen in the first six months of 2023. $4.4 million worth of tokens were stolen in January, $16.2 million in February, and $10.9 million in March. NFTs worth $3.23 million, $2.95 million, and $2.27 million were stolen in April, May, and June respectively. The second half of the year also began with the hacking of the account of the CEO of the well-known crypto project LayerZero - one of the main projects - candidates for the airdrop. The Twitter account (the social network is blocked in Russia) of LayerZero protocol founder Brian Pellegrino was compromised, and fraudsters tried to conduct a fake token distribution. Control over the account has now been restored.

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