Every Third US Crypto Investor Was a Victim of Theft: Kaspersky Report

A study conducted by the cybersecurity company Kaspersky determined that approximately a third of the US crypto investors have had some portion of their stash stolen by hackers. 

Bad actors usually con victims by luring them to enter a counterfeit website or urging them to join a dubious investment platform. 

‘People Need to Take Care to Protect Themselves’

Kaspersky surveyed 2,000 American adults to estimate that around 30% of those who have hopped on the crypto bandwagon had become victims of theft. The average value of the lost assets was nearly $100,000, while 15% of the respondents admitted parting with up to $1,000,000 worth of tokens. 

Bad actors predominantly scam individuals via fraudulent websites or fake investment platforms, as the majority of victims were aged 18-24. Just 8% of those older than 55 had some assets siphoned due to such reasons. 

It is worth noting that older people have not embraced the asset class the way youngsters have done it. 36% of the participants aged 25-44 admitted owning some cryptocurrencies, while only 10% of those aged 55+ were HODLers. 

Marc Rivero – Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team – claimed that the lack of comprehensive regulations had recently triggered an increase in cryptocurrency scams. He advised people to be utterly cautious when investing in the asset class and use sophisticated passwords to secure their funds:

“Users should be very careful where they invest their money, keeping a close eye out for phishing scams and fake websites. They should employ any extra security measures that are available to them, such as multi-factor authentication, and should use strong, unique passwords across all accounts.”

The cybersecurity firm found out that 19% of crypto investors store their private keys on a PC/phone in plain text, while 14% have not made any efforts to protect their seed phrases. 

Every Fourth Respondent is an Investor

The study further estimated that 24% of all questioned individuals have already purchased a certain amount of digital assets. The average respondents seem rather patient, with most saying the last time they checked their investment was six weeks ago. 

Another recent survey conducted by Coinbase estimated that the share of Americans who have joined the crypto ecosystem is 20%. 

The exchange claimed that adoption is higher among younger generations, such as Gen Z and Millennials, and people of color. 

80% of the participants think the current global financial system is unfair, and 67% believe necessary amendments should be imposed. Coinbase claimed crypto could fuel such a monetary revolution, outlining that troubled communities have already used it to solve “real-world problems:”

“On a global level, crypto is offering faster, low-cost cross-border transfers, and digital stablecoins are helping underbanked people across the world to gain access to the US dollar and financial services to help launch a small business.”