Crypto Industry Sees 23.1% Drop in Hacking-Related Losses in Q1 2024, Reports Immunefi
Summary:
In Q1 2024, the cryptocurrency industry experienced a 23.1% reduction in losses due to hacking, approximately $336.3 million, compared to the same period last year, according to a study by Immunefi. Although DeFi platforms were the primary targets, with two projects accounting for 43% of total losses, the total number of hacking incidents decreased by 17.6% from the last year. 22% of the stolen funds were also recovered and there was a quick recovery from the second biggest attack.
Cryptocurrency industry reports a marked reduction of 23.1% in losses due to hacking activities in the first quarter of 2024, according to a study published by blockchain security company Immunefi on March 28. The study reveals the overall amount lost to hacking during this time frame was around $336.3 million, a significant decrease from the $437.5 million loss reported in the same time frame last year. A total of 46 hacking incidents alongside 15 fraudulent activities occurred in the crypto space in Q1 of 2024, causing losses exceeding $321 million.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms experienced all identified hacking exploits, compared to none on centralized finance (CeFi) platforms, despite having nearly $100 billion in total value held in Web3 protocols. The majority of losses, amounting to $144.5 million or 43% of the total amount, were caused by two projects. Orbit Bridge, a cross-chain bridge protocol, was the primary target with losses amounting to $81.7 million during the New Year celebrations. January alone reported the highest loss for Q1, totaling $133 million.
Immunefi CEO, Mitchell Amador, pointed out the vulnerability of DeFi platforms to private key compromises, highlighting the urgent need for more robust security across code and protocol infrastructure.
Towards the end of the quarter, the second major attack witnessed a $62 million exploit on the Blast-based NFT game Munchables. However, a quick recovery was made within a day, as the hackers forfeited the private keys of the wallet housing Munchables' assets.
A total of $73.9 million, representing 22% of the stolen funds from seven exploits were recovered in Q1. The number of attacks also fell by 17.6%, down to 61 from 74 in Q1, 2023. Hacking accounted for the bulk of losses, 95.6% ($321.6 million) across 46 occurrences, whereas fraud, scams, and rug pulls accounted for only 4.4% ($14.7 million) across 15 incidents.
Ethereum again proved to be the most targeted chain, surpassing BNB Chain, with both recording 73% of total losses. Ethereum saw the most attacks with 33 incidents, accounting for 51% of the losses, while BNB Chain experienced 12 attacks, equating to 22% of the total exploited funds. Other incidents occurred on different networks such as Arbitrum, Solana, Optimism, Bitcoin, Blast, Polygon, Conflux Network, and Base.
Published At
3/30/2024 10:28:18 AM
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