Crypto hacks surge by 15.5% in 2024 with $1.2 billion lost so far

According to data from Nefi, the crypto industry has seen a sharp rise in security breaches in 2024, with over $1.2 billion lost to hacks and rug pulls across 154 incidents year-to-date (YTD).

This represents a 15.5% increase compared to the same period in 2023, when the total value of funds lost to such incidents was around $1.04 billion.

August 2024 recorded the lowest losses of the year, with $15 million lost across five incidents.

This marks a significant 94.5% decrease from July 2024, when user losses exceeded $269 million.

The high losses in July were primarily due to a major security breach at the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX (CRYPTO:WRX), where $235 million was stolen.

By contrast, August's lower losses were mainly driven by two incidents: a $12 million hack of the Ronin Network, a gaming-focused blockchain project, and a $1.5 million breach involving the DeFi protocol Nexera.

Other affected platforms included VOW, Convergence Finance, and iVest DAO, with losses of $1.2 million, $210,000, and $172,000, respectively.

Year-over-year (YoY) data reveals that August 2024's losses were 38% lower than those in August 2023, which saw $24.5 million lost.

All losses in August 2024 were attributed to decentralised finance (DeFi) hacks, unlike July 2024, when a significant centralis/ed finance (CeFi) hack occurred at WazirX.

The data for August 2024 shows no instances of fraud, indicating that all losses were purely the result of hacks.

The rise in crypto hacks highlights the urgent need for stronger security measures across the industry.

While there are indications that security practices are improving, concerns persist about the substantial losses occurring on various smart contract platforms.

For instance, in 2023, the DeFi protocol Exactly, running on Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) layer-2 scaling solution Optimism (CRYPTO:OP), saw $12 million in user funds stolen.

Recent events also underscore the evolving tactics of hackers.

Rho Markets, a DeFi lending protocol on Ethereum layer 2 solution Scroll, experienced an unusual case where hackers returned $7.6 million in assets after breaching the platform, but with the stipulation that it be acknowledged as a lapse in security rather than an exploit or hack.

This scenario emphasises the complexity and evolving nature of security challenges in the crypto sector.