Third of American Crypto Holders Stolen, Report Says

A recent survey found that a third of the crypto or digital assets holders had experienced theft, according to Cointelegraph.

Cybersecurity services provider Kaspersky published a survey that surveyed 2,000 American adults in October 2022 as a part of a report named “Crypto Threats 2023” that highlighted risks and threats of cryptocurrency use and bad habits related to this matter in the United States.

According to the survey, 24% of the participants owned crypto or digital assets. The age of 36% of them was in the 25–44 age category, while 10% are among those aged 55 or older.

The survey found that a third of these crypto owners had been stolen and an equal portion reported being victims of scams. Nearly half (47%) of respondents aged 18-24 said they have had cryptocurrency or a crypto asset stolen, while just 8% of respondents aged 55+ said the same.

The average value of stolen assets was $97,583, only 29% of the thefts were valued at more than $10,000 and 39% at $1,000 or less.

In this regard, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team Marc Rivero said: “From scams to malware to crypto-jacking, there is a long list of threats lurking online to target cryptocurrencies. Without any regulation or established common knowledge, people need to take care to protect themselves.”

Earlier, Blockchain analytics company Crystal Blockchain said nearly $16.7 billion in crypto assets have been stolen since 2011, Bitcoin News reported.

Crystal Blockchain published a report in which scams, frauds, and security breaches related to cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi) since 2011 were covered and analyzed. According to the report, about $16.7 billion in crypto assets were stolen in 461 incidents that took place in 45 countries over the past 12 years.