Elliptic's recent report indicates a widespread problem with NFT theft in the crypto ecosystem, revealing losses totaling around $100 million, with BAYC being a primary target.

Cybercriminals The blockchain analytics firm reported a staggering theft of NFTs valued at $100 million. Elliptic The new 110-page report titled 'NFTs and Financial Crimes' examined instances of NFT theft that took place between July 2021 and July 2022.

Despite the current downturn in the NFT market, scammers seem undeterred, with the month of July recording the highest number of reported NFT thefts at 4,600. This spike could partly be attributed to a system glitch on OpenSea. reported for suspicious activity The most significant individual loss reported was a theft that resulted in nearly $24 million worth of digital collectibles being stolen back in May.

Social media platforms played a significant role in these crimes, with scams accounting for 23% of all thefts, translating to about 5,000 NFTs valued at approximately $20 million, mainly facilitated through phishing schemes.

Discord platforms have been heavily targeted by scammers, tallying a record 11,475 suspicious messages in January. Interestingly, reports of fraudulent activities have since diminished over the last couple of months, while a dedicated fraud reporting channel on NFT project servers recorded a staggering 75,000 messages since July 2021, with 76% of these incidents occurring in 2022.

On average, thieves manage to take home about $300,000 per incident of NFT theft, although this figure might be understated due to ongoing underreporting of cyber-related crimes.

The single most valuable NFT ever stolen was CryptoPunk #4324, which resold shortly after the theft for $490,000. In December, a significant theft saw one collector part with 16 high-value NFTs totaling $2.1 million.

The Bored Apes stand out as the most sought-after NFTs, with a staggering $43.6 million loss from 167 BAYC NFTs reported between July 2021 and July 2022, leaving other notable collections trailing far behind; for instance, $14.5 million from MAYC, $3.9 million from Azuki, $3.7 million from Otherdeed, and $2.9 million from CloneX were lost to theft.

As more collectors enter the NFT market, the threat from cybercriminals exploiting vulnerabilities continues to loom. It's crucial for NFT platforms to prioritize robust security measures to prevent unauthorized access to wallets. Nevertheless, Elliptic found that the actual incidents of theft represent only a small fraction of the total NFT trading activity.

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• While The Wall Street Journal suggests that NFT sales are stagnating, it's worthwhile to delve deeper into the actual data to understand the true state of the market.