According to Elliptic’s investigation, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club and the Bored Ape Yacht Club had ape NFTs worth $58.1 million stolen from them in July 2022.
According to research from cryptocurrency risk management firm Elliptic, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were stolen by thieves for more than $100 million starting in 2021, as reported by Cointelegraph.
NFT-related frauds of more than $100.6 million were committed against crypto users in the 13 months between July 2021 and July 2022, according to Elliptic’s NFTs and Financial Crime research, which was published on Wednesday.
Elliptic claims that a CryptoPunk worth $490,000 that was taken in November 2021 was the most costly NFT theft the company certified as part of its analysis. In December 2021, scammers were able to steal “16 blue chip NFTs worth $2.1 million” from a single victim in the cryptocurrency sector.
The study finds that since 2017, more than $8 million in illegal cash has been laundered via NFT platforms, while more than $328 million has been moved through cryptocurrency mixers like Tornado Cash, which the US Office of Foreign Asset Control sanctioned in August. According to sources, the disputed mixer acted as “the laundering instrument of choice” for the bulk of schemes and processed $137.6 million in cryptocurrencies via NFT platforms.
According to Cointelegraph, it is unclear how precisely the aforementioned estimations matched the actual price of the cryptocurrencies and NFTs used in them considering that many frauds go unreported or are only identified after the fact. Elliptic reported that more than 2,000 NFTs with a rough value of $20 million were taken in April 2022. Elliptic attributed this to the fake airdrop that targeted NFT holders of the Bored Ape Yacht Club and was thought to be the cause of the estimated tens of millions of dollars in theft at the time. According to Elliptic’s investigation, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club and the Bored Ape Yacht Club had ape NFTs worth $58.1 million stolen from them in July 2022.
In June and July 2022, valuable NFT thefts decreased but those impacting less valued early-stage firms surged, according to Elliptic. According to the study, there are probably some underlying causes for this trend of “holding” by affluent NFT owners during the tough market as well as their decreased engagement in risky new initiatives.
