In 2023, North Korea-affiliated hacking groups targeted both decentralized finance (defi) platforms and centralized services, exchanges, and wallet providers, resulting in a total theft of nearly $430 million.

Blockchain forensic firm Chainalysis revealed that hacking groups Kimsuky and Lazarus Group executed 20 successful attacks against various platforms, accumulating around $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency. This marked a 41.7% decrease in stolen funds compared to the previous year.

While defi protocols suffered losses of approximately $428.8 million, centralized services and exchanges were also hit, with losses amounting to $150 million and $330.9 million, respectively. Wallet providers were not immune either, experiencing losses of $127 million.

Overall, 2023 saw a significant 54.3% decrease in stolen funds, totaling $1.7 billion compared to $3.1 billion in 2022. This decline is attributed to a reduction in defi hacking, which was the primary driver of crypto theft in previous years.

Analysts point out that hackers managed to steal only $1.1 billion from smart contracts in 2023, indicating a notable 63.7% year-over-year decrease in theft from decentralized finance platforms.

In addition to stolen funds, illicit crypto activities also saw a decline in value in 2023, with the total sum received through such operations amounting to $24.2 billion, a nearly 39% decrease from the previous year’s losses of $39.6 billion.

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