This finding is part of Chainalysis’ yearly crypto crime report, which details the data and research behind crypto crimes over a year.
Cybercriminals stole about US$1.1 billion ($1.48 billion) worth of crypto through ransomware attacks in 2023, a 94% y-o-y increase or the most that has been stolen in all of crypto forensics firm Chainalysis’ history of reporting on crypto crimes.
Chainalysis says that 2023 was a “watershed year” for ransomware with “growing intensity and sophistication of attacks”, in which there were 538 new ransomware variants last year alone. The attacks were carried out by a variety of actors from large syndicates, to smaller groups and even individuals.
