More than $250M spent on crypto security in 2022 —Report

LAGOS (CoinChapter.com) — In a bid to combat the high rate of exploits recorded across the cryptocurrency industry a new report has found that companies have invested $257 million in the protection of their firms.

In detail, a Bloomberg report revealed that as compared to last year more venture capital firms are investing in the security of their firms against hacks and exploit. Notably, so far in 2022, $257 million has already been used for crypto security, up from $185 million in 2021.

The report indicated that the spate of attacks has surged significantly from the first major crypto exchange hack in 2016. It noted that criminals including North Korean hackers are increasingly targeting blockchain and crypto infrastructure prompting the need for security improvement.

Additionally, crypto intelligence firm Chainalysis disclosed that hackers in 2022 alone have stolen over $2 billion from crypto platforms. This overwhelming figure exploited already further highlights the essential need for development in the area of crypto security.

Furthermore, Chainalysis estimated that hacks on crypto bridges account for more than two-thirds of the total value stolen in the first seven months of 2022. Meanwhile, PolyNetwork protocol’s $611 million hack remains the highest exploit registered in the crypto space according to blockchain analytics Elliptic.

Moreover, Paul Frambot CEO of Morpho Labs stated that companies in decentralized finance (DeFi) do not take crypto security seriously. He noted that his firm has spent a lot on auditing and securty, adding that it is the best way to protect clients’ investments. Morpho has done more than 10 code audits in the past year, according to Frambot.

Crypto Security Hirings Increasing

The report also revealed that as a result of threats from hackers the demand for protection has triggered an increase in the hiring of crypto security experts.

Notably, firms that sift through code for weaknesses and run bug-hunting sites are finding themselves with more business. Moreover, this year almost 1,200 external projects have asked ConsenSys to audit their smart-contract code.

More interestingly, the report revealed that security auditors are racking in massive salary pay due to the high demand. Salaries for blockchain auditors can run as high as $400,000 annually, according to Zeth Couceiro, founder of Plexus Resource Solutions. Their pay is typically around 20% above that of developers focused on Solidity, one of the biggest crypto programming languages.

“The reason for that is the need to come from a coding background but also understand the architecture to establish vulnerabilities.”

Couceiro said.