Crypto hackers have stolen over 15.5% more in 2024 than in the same period last year.
Cryptocurrency hackers have now stolen over $1.2 billion in 2024, following recent breaches in August, raising further concerns about the security of widespread crypto adoption.
According to a report by Immunefi shared with Cointelegraph, the crypto industry has lost $1.21 billion worth of digital assets to hacks and rug pulls year-to-date (YTD) in 2024, spanning 154 separate incidents.
This marks a 15.5% increase from the same period in 2023, when losses exceeded $1 billion.
Mitchell Amador, founder and CEO of Immunefi, noted that hackers might exceed the previous year’s stolen amount if the trend continues.
He told Cointelegraph: “It’s difficult to make predictions, but the ecosystem is always at risk of one severe and successful exploit that could significantly increase these numbers. We must remain vigilant at all times to mitigate such risks.”
This report follows a recent incident where a hacker stole over $230 million from WazirX, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, marking the second-largest cryptocurrency hack of 2024 so far.
Monthly Hacks Fall 94% in August
August saw a significant drop in hacking activity, with losses amounting to over $15 million, a 94% decrease from the $274 million stolen in July.
Most of August’s losses were attributed to two major breaches: the $9.8 million Ronin Network hack and the $1.5 million Nexera exploit. Both incidents were linked to vulnerabilities introduced during code upgrades.
Amador remarked, “Both the Ronin and Convergence incidents this month were due to vulnerabilities introduced during code upgrades.
Convergence clarified in their post-mortem that they had ‘modified [that] part of the code post-audit,’ which highlights the critical importance of maintaining a security-first approach at every step.”
Most of 2024 Losses are Attributed to CeFi Infrastructure
Although decentralized finance (DeFi) saw all the exploits in August, CeFi remains a major security concern.
Amador explained, “Most of the losses in 2024 have been attributed to attacks on CeFi infrastructure. Although there were no reported or successful CeFi attacks this month, it doesn’t necessarily mean these threats aren’t occurring or won’t lead to future losses.”
Immunefi is a leading on-chain, crowdsourced cybersecurity platform responsible for safeguarding over $190 billion in user funds.
