Cryptocurrency Crime Drops in 2020 but 'Decentralized Finance' Losses Rise: Study
Losses from cryptocurrency theft, hacks and fraud fell 57% last year to $1.9 billion, as market participants boosted security systems, but crime in the "decentralized finance" space continued to grow, a report from crypto intelligence company CipherTrace showed.
Fraud was the dominant cryptocurrency crime in 2020, followed by theft, and ransomware. Half of all thefts, or about $129 million, were hacks tied to decentralized finance (DeFi), which are transactions on platforms that facilitate lending outside of banks.
Cryptocurrencies have attracted renewed scrutiny and interest as institutional investors have piled into digital assets, particularly bitcoin, propelling the latter to a record high of $42,000 this month.
