Cryptocurrency hackers stole less money in 2019, despite higher activity
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Cryptocurrency hackers stole less money in 2019, despite higher activity
Cryptocurrency criminals ramped up their activity last year, carrying out more hacks but stealing less money.
According to blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, 2019 saw more cryptocurrency hacks than any other year to date.
[Read: Here's how law enforcement catches cryptocurrency criminals]
However, none of the 11 hacks that took place last year came close to matching previous heists in terms of scale (think Mt. Gox's $473 million collapse in 2014 or Coincheck's $534 million hack in 2018).
As a result, the total amount stolen from exchanges dropped significantly to $283 million worth of cryptocurrency.
For context, Chainalysis counted hacks involving exploitation of technical vulnerabilities and attacks carried out through social engineering or other methods of deception.
They only counted attacks that enabled bad actors to access funds belonging to exchanges, and not wallet providers, payment processors, investment platforms, or any other services.
Their methodology also ignored exit scams or cases where users exploited an exch