A huge $670 million of cryptocurrency was stolen in the second quarter of 2022.
Bug bounty and security services platform Immunefi revealed the figure in its Crypto Losses report, which said the figure was up 52% compared to the same period in 2021.
Four massive hacks contributed most to the 2022 figure: decentralised stablecoin protocol Beanstalk, which lost $182m; layer-1 blockchain bridging protocol Harmony Horizon, which lost $100m; and decentralised finance protocols Mirror and TribeDAO, which lost $90m and $80m respectively.
The vast majority of the losses – almost 97% – were the result of hacks. There were 50 successful hacking attempts in the period, with 49 of those targeting DeFi projects.
However the losses for Q2 were actually down by 45.5% from the $1.23 billion figure in the first quarter of 2022.
Cryptocurrency shorts
Sam Bankman-Fried, boss of cryptocurrency exchange FTX – which has bailed out several crypto firms amid the market crash – says it still has a “few billion” on hand to shore up struggling companies.
Web3 gaming network Planetarium Labs has raised $32m Series A funding from Animoca Brands, Samsung Next, WeMade (the publisher of play-to-earn game Mir4) and its partner Krust Universe, the investment arm of South Korean tech giant Kakao. Its software development kit Libplanet allows developers to create blockchain applications on the Unity game development platform.
Oasys, a startup based in Singapore building a blockchain for gaming developers, has raised $20m from Republic Capital, Jump Crypto, Crypto.com, Huobi, Kucoin, Gate.io, Bitbank and Mirana Ventures.
Konvoy Ventures, a VC firm focused on gaming, has raised $150m for a new fund, with 20-30% set to go towards blockchain and crypto-related games.
Instagram accounts for 32% of all crypto fraud cases on social media, according to TradingPlatforms.com. Facebook and Whatsapp were second and third with 26% and 9% respectively.
The five celebrities who tweet the most about crypto? Mark Cuban, Paris Hilton, Nayib Bukele, Snoop Dogg and Soulja Boy, according to Traders of Crypto.
British artist MAXIM, also known as MM – who was part of legendary British rave and dance group The Prodigy – is to launch an NFT collection of 888 butterflies featuring skulls and deadly weapons. The ‘Lepidopterror Collection’ is to be released with Snowcrash on Wednesday July 27th.
Blockchain startup Bitmark has raised $5.6m after launching its Autonomy NFT wallet, intended to allow owners to display their collections.
Rubix Blockchain has secured $100m investment from LDA Capital Ltd to grow its environmentally conscious platform for international transactions globally.
Italy has reserved more than $46m for companies who want to launch subsidiaries for blockchain research.
Crypto prices
The overall market cap of the more than 20,100 coins is at $914.84 billion at the time of writing (7am UK), a 1.4% increase in the last 24 hours.
Market leader Bitcoin – the original cryptocurrency created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto – gained 1% to $20,300. BTC is 1.5% up in a week.
Ethereum, the second most valuable crypto coin – created as a decentralised network for smart contracts on the blockchain – rose 3% to $1,165. ETH is 7% up over the course of a week.
Binance Coin is a cryptocurrency created by popular crypto exchange Binance to assist its aim in becoming the infrastructure services provider for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Its BNB token gained 2% to $237, leaving it 9% up over seven days.
Cardano is an open source network facilitating dApps which considers itself to be an updated version of Ethereum. Its ADA token, designed to allow owners to participate in the operation of the network, grew 2% to above 46 cents and is 1% up in a week.
The XRP token of Ripple, a payment settlement asset exchange and remittance system, acts as a bridge for transfers between other currencies. XRP gained 2% to 33c, with its price 1% up on seven days ago.
Solana is a blockchain built to make decentralised finance accessible on a larger scale – and capable of processing 50,000 transactions per second. Its SOL token added 2% to $36.60 and is 13% higher than its price a week ago.
Meme coin DOGE was created as a satire on the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies but is now a major player in the space. DOGE gained 1% to 6.8c, leaving it 2% up in a week.
Polkadot was founded by the Swiss-based Web3 Foundation as an open-source project to develop a decentralised web. Its DOT token, which aims to securely connect blockchains, added 1% to $6.90 yet is slightly down on its price a week ago.
Avalanche is a lightning-quick verifiable platform for institutions, enterprises and governments. Its AVAX token gained 4% to $18.97 and is 12% up in a week.
To see how the valuations of the main coins have changed in recent times – and for round-ups of recent cryptocurrency news developments – click here.
For valuations of the top 100 coins by market cap in US dollars, plus 24-hour price change, see below.