According to the global payment provider Visa, 2022 became a record-breaking year for cryptocurrency thefts, with over $3 billion stolen in on-chain thefts. Cryptocurrency bridge services were a favored target for threat actors. 

Visa published the biannual threats report on March 20. On 24 pages, the document contains data on all sorts of violations that occurred in the digital payments system globally last year — from plastic card fraud schemes to malware. A separate section is dedicated to cryptocurrency and digital platforms.

It pays special attention to token bridges and their vulnerability. Commonly the fraudsters exploit a bridge service’s smart contracts to either forge new transactions or allow for the approval of unauthorized transactions. The total amount of funds, stolen via token bridges, totals $2 billion from January through early October 2022.

(By DAVID ATTLEE)