A Decade of Cryptocurrency ‘Hacks’: 2011 – 2021

Abstract

We survey large-scale cryptocurrency thefts over the past decade, estimating the total value of stolen cryptocurrencies. We find that depending on the timing of when the cryptocurrency was converted to fiat, the stolen amounts are valued between $5.7 billion to $78 billion, depending on how long the thief held the cryptocurrency versus converting to fiat currency. We also document that as the cryptocurrency market develops, the incidence of large-scale cryptocurrency thefts has also increased in both number and stolen values in recent years. Large-scale thefts can be attributed to security breaches accounting for 15 of the 24 thefts, human errors accounting for 4, and agency problems arising from insider thefts accounting for the remaining 5.