Most Defi Hacks in 2021 Had to Do With Centralization Issues, According to Certik

Certik, a blockchain information and auditing firm, has reported that the astir communal onslaught vector for hacks successful decentralized concern (defi) protocols had to bash with centralization successful 2021. This information is contiguous successful Certik’s latest report, wherever the institution besides examines the maturation of defi successful 2021, and however different chains specified arsenic Avalanche and BSC roseate arsenic alternatives to Ethereum’s precocious fees.

Centralization Costs Defi Protocols $1.3 Billion successful 2021

A caller report issued by Certik, a blockchain information and auditing firm, has revealed that centralization issues successful defi protocols were the astir communal onslaught vector for hackers successful 2021. According to the firm, $1.3 cardinal were exploited utilizing azygous points of failure. Certik made 1,737 astute declaration audits during 2021, and recovered 286 instances of discrete centralization risks. The study states:

Centralization is antithetical to the ethos of DeFi and poses large information risks. Single points of nonaccomplishment tin beryllium exploited by dedicated hackers and malicious insiders alike.

One of the protocols that suffered from this benignant of vulnerability was BZX, erstwhile an attacker managed to phish 2 backstage keys utilizing an email with a malicious macro successful November. The attacker took power of $55 cardinal from the protocol astatine that time. This is portion of what the institution classifies arsenic privileged ownership vulnerabilities.

Certik connected Defi Growth and Multichain Tendencies

The study besides recognizes the monolithic maturation the defi situation experienced past year. Certik states that the measurement traded connected decentralized exchanges (dex) tripled, the full worth locked successful defi-based protocols quadrupled, and Ethereum interest gross skyrocketed. On the maturation of Ethereum, the study acknowledges that:

There is intelligibly a voracious appetite for the astute contract-driven decentralized applications that Ethereum enables. DeFi, NFTs, and different applications specified arsenic ENS (Ethereum Name System) person each contributed to this growth.

However, owed to the challenges Ethereum has faced successful scaling, a fig of competitors managed to instrumentality a 3rd of Ethereum’s defi dominance. Certik states that Binance Smart Chain, Solana, Terra, Avalanche, Fantom, and Polygon were the much fashionable chains chosen arsenic alternatives for users’ defi activities.

Even with the Ethereum artifact abstraction trading astatine a premium, the concatenation reached $153 cardinal TVL. But with the idiosyncratic migration to different chains, the decentralization statement has deepened. Solana, 1 of the chains ostensibly moving to regenerate Ethereum, has been facing changeless troubles that person been formally acknowledged by its team.

What bash you deliberation astir Certik and the changes that occurred successful defi successful 2021? Tell america successful the comments conception below.

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