$2 billion worth of crypto stolen from cross-chain bridges this year: Chainalysis

The $190 million Nomad Bridge exploit is just the latest of 13 separate bridge attacks in 2022 so far.

Cross-chain bridge hacks accounted for 69% of total crypto stolen in 2022, or $2 billion in losses, according to a new report.

The report comes from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis on August 2, noting that there have been 13 separate token bridge hacks this year – the most recent being the $190 million Nomad Bridge exploit .

The first quarter of 2022 was by far the quarter that saw the most crypto stolen since 2021, primarily due to the Ronin Bridge attack in late March, which saw $624 million in Ether (ETH ) and Circle USD (USDC) stolen.< /p>

Following last night's Nomad Bridge exploit, an estimated $2 billion has been stolen from cross-chain bridges so far now in 2022. Read our blog to find out what makes these protocols vulnerable and what the industry can do about it. https://t.co/WLo62H6NFe pic.twitter.com/CZRnqrPikh

Inter-chain bridges, also known as blockchain bridges, are designed to transfer cryptocurrencies from one blockchain network to another.

Chainalysis explains that while bridge designs vary, users typically deposit their tokens from a chain to the bridge protocol, which are then locked into a contract. The user then receives the equivalent of a parallel token in another chain.

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