World Crypto Global
- Written by: Damian Chmiel
- Thu, 04 Jul 2024
- Israel
Thecryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) sectors suffered a staggering$1.19 billion in losses due to hacks, scams, and exploits in the first half of2024, according to a new report from blockchain security firm CertiK.Crypto Security WoesDeepen as H1 Losses Hit $1.19 BillionThe"Hack3d: The Web3 Security Quarterly Report" for Q2 and H1 2024,released this week, paints a sobering picture of the crypto industry's ongoing security challenges. Phishing attacks emerged as the mostdamaging vector, accounting for $497.7 million in losses across 150 incidents."Q22024 experienced the highest losses since Q3 of the previous year, despite arelatively quiet quarter in which the markets mostly consolidated the gainsfrom Q1," the report emailed to Finance Magnates reads.Private keycompromises were the second most costly attack type, resulting in $408.9million lost over 42 major incidents. The Ethereum blockchain bore the brunt ofthe attacks, experiencing 235 security incidents that led to nearly $400million in losses.The largestsingle incident of the period was an attack on the Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin,resulting in a staggering $304.7 million loss. Other notable breaches includeda $112.5 million loss by Chris Larsen anda $90 million hack of Turkish exchange BtcTurk.Despite theoverall increase in losses, there was a silver lining: approximately $177.8million was returned to victims across 18 separate incidents in H1, reducingthe net losses for the period to $1.01 billion.Hack3d: Q2 + H1 2024 184 hacks, scams, and exploits drained $688,102,941 from Web3 in Q2 2024. This is a 37% increase in value lost compared to Q1 2024, despite an 18% decrease in incidents.Read our full report: https://t.co/XnuddaEecn pic.twitter.com/GGHdbqWZoz CertiK (@CertiK) July 3, 2024Forcomparison, throughout 2023, investors and exchanges were estimated to have lost$2 billion in cryptocurrencies. Although these figures are alarming, theywere still half as much as in the record year of 2022, whenlosses reached nearly $4 billion.Crypto Losses Surge to$688 Million in Q2 2024The reportalso provided a breakdown of Q2 2024 figures, which showed a concerning trend:In Q2 alone, a total of $688.1 million was lost across 184 onchain security incidents, representing a 37% increase in value lost compared to Q1 2024. This is alsosignificantly more thanthe $300 million reported in Q2 of the previous year.Phishingremained the dominant attack vector in Q2, with $433.7 million lost across 67incidents.Ethereumremained the most targeted chain in Q2, with 83 incidents resulting in$170.6 million in losses.Overall,Q2 2024 was marked by significant financial losses due to security breaches,emphasizing the ongoing challenges in the cryptocurrency and DeFi sectors.Phishing attacks and code vulnerabilities remain prevalent, with substantiallosses impacting both individual users and large platforms, the report adds.Thepersistent security issues highlighted by CertiK's findings may pose challengesfor platforms seeking to demonstrate the robustness and reliability of theirsystems, especially as the industry grapples with increased regulatory scrutinyand attempts to attract institutional investors.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
