The amount of cryptocurrency lost to hacks and exploits globally more than doubled in the first half of 2024, a new report suggests.
According to a recent study by the threat intelligence team at TRM Labs, five incidents accounted for 70 percent of the total amount stolen so far this year, with seed phrase and private key compromises, flash loan attacks, and smart contract exploits being the top types of incidents.
Crypto thefts still below record levels of 2022
The official report states that hackers had stolen $1.38 billion as of June 24, 2024, compared to $657 million lost to hacks and exploits during the same period in 2023. The report notes that “more money was stolen during each of the first six months of 2024 than in the corresponding months in 2023, with the median hack 150 percent larger.” However, the thefts from hacks and exploits are still a third below the same period in 2022, which remains a record year.
Year’s largest hack
The largest incident was the hack of the Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin, which lost over 4,500 BTC (valued at $300 million at the time) on May 31, 2024. While the researchers observed no fundamental changes in the crypto ecosystem’s security, they noted higher average token prices in the last six months compared to the same period last year, which likely contributed to the increased theft volumes.
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