Security has been the most significant advantage and flaw of the crypto world. For the average user, the system is rigid and does not allow for mistakes. However, since that can be a problem for those not too tech-savvy, developers are looking for ways to make things easy, and in a bid to do that, they introduce loopholes.

Cryptocurrency has been a good invention that has helped many industries. It is even easy for bettors to use crypto to bet on NFL odds. However, the problem of security hasn’t helped its cause so far.

Therefore, it has made bettors weary before using it to fund their accounts to bet on events like the Vegas NFL odds. As a result of introducing loopholes, hackers have been damaging the industry, and we’ve witnessed plenty of heists.

In 2022, many platforms and businesses have recorded losses to hacks, theft, and stealing in the past few months. After scouring different sources, we’ve put together eight heists in the crypto, ranking them based on the reported amount stolen by the hacks.

The Ronin Heist

Of all the heists that have happened so far in 2022, none has come close to the one that occurred in March. The victim was Axie Infinity, one of the top blockchain-based online games that bring players together to mint NFTs. The platform is built on the Ronin blockchain, and the cybercriminals compromised the technology.

And it was successful. After the heist, it was recorded that the criminals stole tokens worth around $625m. Later, a popular North Korean group called Lazarus was responsible.

Wormhole Heist

This year’s second-largest is the one on Wormhole, a decentralized finance cross-chain protocol. As a result, it helps secure the transfer of tokens from one ecosystem to another. However, this secure asset transfer was compromised and exploited through a vulnerability in the system.

The criminals came in through the smart contract code to take out around 120,000 wETH, a growing type of Ethereum. And based on the conversion rate at the time of the heist, the value was about $325 million.

Beanstalk Theft

Following the Wormhole heist on this list is the theft against Beanstalk, a crypto company that says it’s a “decentralized credit-based stable coin protocol.” However, many people are still confused about what that means.

However, that didn’t stop criminals from trying their luck with the company, and it eventually worked out as one of the attacks was successful, and it was reported that around $182m worth of crypto was taken from its vault.

Rari Capital and Fei Protocol Heist

Following the incident that hit Axie Infinity, another massive robbery was recorded; although the amount stolen is less than the Wormhole and Beanstalk heists, it’s still a pretty big heist. Cryptocurrency worth over $80m was recorded to have been stolen from the Fuse lending protocol by Rari Capital and Fei, two decentralized finance platforms.

The criminals were reported to have used the reentrancy vulnerability in the system to steal the money from both platforms.

The Qubit Protocol Heist

Another $80m heist on our list is the Qubit protocol heist that saw a DeFi protocol innovative bridge get hacked this year. Qubit Finance is a BSC-Ethereum bridge that allows for the exchange of assets between two different cryptocurrency ecosystems. However, there is no doubt that bridges are notorious for security flaws.

Many bettors have suffered issues with transfers when they want to bet on NFL lines. Therefore, the January Qubit hack was one of many with bridges.

Cashio Hack

The Cashio project is a stablecoin venture built on the Solana blockchain, issuing the CASH token. However, a hacker could use the infinite mint exploit to take advantage of the vulnerability inside the project’s technology. He took about $52 million worth of the CASH token, which sent the token crashing till it went down to about $0.00005.

IRA Financial Trust Hack

The IRA Financial Trust recently went on its crypto journey when it partnered with the crypto exchange Gemini. The partnership allowed users to invest in cryptocurrency through their retirement accounts.

It was an excellent way to get people into the crypto world, giving them a chance to improve their finances. However, an unfortunate hack saw a cybercriminal take about $36 million worth of cryptocurrency associated with clients’ funds with IRA Financials.

Crypto.com Hack

Finally, on our list is the Crypto.com hack. If you’re familiar with the crypto industry, you’ll know that Crypto.com is one of the biggest crypto exchanges, and making this list isn’t a good look.

The platform is known for its recent marketing endeavors in the sports and entertainment industry. However, the January hack that saw them lose cryptocurrencies worth $36m has put them in a bit of a rut after he outsmarted the company’s 2FA.

Although we know the company will work on improving its security, building the trust again is something that would take time, as bettors are known to use them to fund accounts whenever they want to bet on NFL lines and other sports.