NFTs worth over $100M have been stolen since 2021: Elliptic
Research from cryptocurrency risk management company Elliptic claims that nonfungible tokens, or non-fungible tokens (NFTs), were stolen by criminals starting in 2021 for more than $100 million, as reported by Cointelegraph.
According to Elliptic’s NFTs and Financial Crime research, which was published on Wednesday, in the 13-month period between July 2021 and July 2022, crypto users have fallen prey to NFT-related frauds totaling over $100.6 million. Although the value of NFTs had “slumped” due to the market downturn, the company found that scammers had stolen the most tokens in July 2022, an estimated 4,647 assets, and the highest value in May 2022, an estimated $23.9 million, Cointelegraph noted.
According to Elliptic, the most expensive NFT theft the company validated as part of its study involved a CryptoPunk that was stolen in November 2021 and was worth $490,000. Scammers were successful in stealing “16 blue chip NFTs valued at $2.1 million” from a single victim in the cryptocurrency industry in December 2021.
According to the research, since 2017, people have used NFT platforms to launder more than $8 million in illicit cash, while more than $328 million has been transferred using cryptocurrency mixers like Tornado Cash, which was sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Asset Control in August. According to reports, the contentious mixer handled $137.6 million in cryptocurrency via NFT platforms and served as “the laundering tool of choice” for the majority of schemes.
As per Cointelegraph, given that many scams go unreported or are discovered after the fact, it is unknown how closely the aforementioned estimates represented the actual worth of the cryptocurrency and NFTs utilised in them. The bogus airdrop that targeted NFT holders of the Bored Ape Yacht Club was responsible for the estimated tens of millions of dollars in theft at the time, according to Elliptic, which said that more than 2,000 NFTs with a rough value of $20 million were taken in April 2022. Elliptic’s research showed that in July 2022, fraudsters stole ape NFTs worth $58.1 million from the Mutant Ape Yacht Club and the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
According to Elliptic, “during the course of June and July 2022, thefts of valuable NFTs reduced while those affecting less valuable early-stage enterprises increased.” This pattern “hodling” by wealthy NFT owners during the bad market and their reduced involvement in risky new ventures are likely contributing factors, according to the study.
(With insights from Cointelegraph)
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