Hacktober surprise: Worst month in worst year of hacks, Chainalysis says

A series of hacks has put October in the lead for the most crypto funds stolen in a month, according to new data from Chainalysis.

This year is on pace to be the biggest for hacks so far, and now October is leading the charge for the top month, the blockchain analytics firm said. Chainalysis reports 11 different hacks totaling $718 million have occurred just this month.

Last year, hackers stole more than $3 billion across 125 breaches, according to Chainalysis. This year is expected to eclipse that. Cross-chain bridges continue to be a significant pain point, accounting for 82% of losses this month and well over half for the year. Three breaches of cross-chain bridges have already occurred this month, including the recent $100 million hack of Binance's BNB cross-chain bridge. 

Other high-profile exploits this month include the $100 million hack of the Solana-based Mango Markets. Those two hacks have made Binance and Solana the leading chains for hacking activity this month.

Chainalysis' findings echo data from The Block Research, which show this year is expected to set records for funds stolen through hacks, illustrated in the chart below.