Binance hack puts the all-time total sum stolen from cryptocurrency exchanges over $1.35 billion; 59% coming from 2018

With the recent hack of Binance, the all-time total stolen from cryptocurrency exchanges has surpassed $1.35 billion, according to The Block's research. Of that $1.35 billion, approximately 59% was taken in 2018 alone. Interestingly, the number of hacked exchanges has stayed relatively the same since 2012. What changes is the average amount stolen; perhaps because of rising prices.

Four cryptocurrency exchanges were hacked in 2019, resulting in a loss of approximately $69 million. In 2014, Mt. Gox’s massive hack made the year an apparent outlier, representing 99% of the amount stolen that year. Last year also had a huge outlier — 62% of the amount stolen in 2018 came from the nearly half a billion Coincheck hack, the largest in history.

In total, there have been 42 exchange hacks according to The Block’s research, but it’s likely that some smaller hacks have gone unreported, so the realistic amount of hacks is probably much higher. Twenty hacks have been for less than $1 million.