According to blockchain research firm Elliptic, more than $100 million worth of non-fungible tokens were stolen between July 2021 and July 2022, opening a new front in the hacking crisis facing the cryptocurrency. NFTs are blockchain-based assets that represent digital content such as photos, videos, or texts.
Investors poured billions into the asset in 2021, hoping to benefit from rising prices. However, NFT prices and sales volumes have fallen since the collapse of cryptocurrency prices in May and June of this year.
Despite the collapse of the market, fraud continues to develop. July saw the largest number of NFTs reported stolen, according to research from Elliptic.
According to the report, social network security breaches will account for 23% of NFT thefts in 2022.
According to Elliptic, the thieves made an average of $300,000 per fraudulent transaction. Given that not all offenses are publicized, the actual number of NFT thefts is likely much higher.
Elliptic estimates that only $8 million has been laundered using NFT-based platforms. However, Elliptic said that services such as so-called cryptocurrency mixers, which are designed to hide the source of money, have provided an estimated $329 million in NFT market capitalization.