More than $100 million worth of NFTs stolen since 2021 – elliptical
Cryptocurrency risk management firm Elliptic has released a report suggesting that fraudsters stole more than $100 million worth of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, as of 2021.
In its report on NFTs and financial crime released on Wednesday, Elliptic said crypto users had been victims of around $100.6 million worth of fraud related to NFTs in the 13-month period from July 2021 to July 2022. The firm reported that although the market fell. had caused the value of NFTs to “fall”, fraudsters stole the most tokens in July 2022 – estimated to be 4,647 assets – and the most value in May 2022 at approximately $23.9 million.
According to Elliptic, the most valuable NFT theft the firm confirmed as part of its analysis was a CryptoPunk valued at $490,000 when it was stolen in November 2021. In December 2021, fraudsters were able to steal “16 blue chip NFTs worth $2.1 million ” from a single victim in the crypto space.
The report stated that individuals had laundered more than $8 million in illicit funds through NFT platforms since 2017, while more than $328 million passed through cryptocurrency mixers including Tornado Cash, sanctioned by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control in August. The controversial mixer reportedly processed $137.6 million worth of crypto from NFT platforms and was the “laundering tool of choice” for most of the scams.
It is unclear how close to the aforementioned figures the true value of crypto and NFTs involved in fraud was, as many go unreported or are identified after the fact. Elliptic reported that more than 2,000 NFTs worth $20 million were stolen in April 2022, but the fake airdrop targeting Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders accounted for the estimated tens of millions of dollars stolen at the time. Elliptic’s data suggested that fraudsters removed $58.1 million worth of Ape NFTs from Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club in July 2022.
“Through June and July 2022, thefts of high-value NFTs decreased, while those affecting lower-value early-stage projects increased,” Elliptic said. “This trend likely partly reflects valuable NFT holders ‘heading’ their assets throughout the bear market and not engaging as actively with new projects that are vulnerable to fraud reactivity.”
Related: OpenSea introduces new stolen item policy to combat NFT theft
Fraudsters continue to use a variety of methods to relieve crypto users of their NFTs, through phishing attacks, exploiting a marketplace, and others. The tokens recently became the target of a class action lawsuit with the potential to affect how the US Securities and Exchange Commission may view assets in the crypto space as securities.
