- Private key compromises have cost crypto projects $8.5 billion.
- They can be avoided.
- There are three things projects need to address, one cybersecurity expert says.
Self-custody, the ability to personally control your own cryptocurrency without the need for governments or banks, is arguably the most valuable innovation of blockchain technology.
Yet it is also the biggest single cause of the thefts that increasingly plague the industry.
Compromises of the password-like private keys that control access to crypto wallets account for an eye-watering $8.5 billion in stolen onchain assets. That’s almost half of all hacks that have taken place over the past 10 years, according to DefiLlama data.
It’s a sobering statistic, and one that throws…
