Crypto hack losses drop more than 50% in June 2024

Hacker with a computer.

Crypto hacks saw a slump in June 2024. According to a recent report, net losses from crypto hacks were down 54.2% compared to the previous month.

The report compiled by crypto analytics firm PeckShield highlighted 20 reported hacking incidents in June. In total, these attacks accounted for $176 million in losses.

A notable drop

In contrast, May 2024 saw $385 million lost to similar attacks.

Per the data, the largest attack was executed on the Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk.

In June, the exchange’s hot wallets were exploited by attackers using stolen private keys. Subsequently, the attacker was able to get away with over $100 million in crypto assets.

Initially, losses were estimated to be around $55 million, as per on-chain sleuth ZachXBT.

The second and third-largest exploits were that of centralised exchange Lykke and DeFi lending protocol UwU.

On June 4, Lykke suffered an exploit resulting in losses worth approximately $22 million. The exchange acknowledged the attack on June 10 and was criticised by the crypto community.

Similarly, the DeFi lending protocol UwU reportedly lost $19.4 million, according to PeckSheild data. The exploiter employed a flash loan attack to drain funds from the protocol.

While the platform offered a 20% bounty for returning the funds, the attacker swiped another $3.7 million from the protocol on June 13.

Coming back to the report, the top 5 biggest hacks in June comprised attacks on two centralised exchanges, followed by three decentralised platforms.

May was the costliest month for the industry, recording 385 million in losses. The majority of the losses were attributed to the attack on the Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin.

The attacker drained 4502.9 BTC worth approximately $305 million from the exchange’s hot wallets. The platform later announced plans to compensate users.

According to PeckSheild, April recorded the lowest number of attacks, with $60.19 million lost.

Quarterly losses remain high

Such a notable drop in crypto hack losses was last recorded in March 2024. Back then, PeckSheild reported a 48% drop.

Interestingly, despite the recent drop, the total net losses in the second quarter of 2024 were up 115% compared to 2023. Over $572 million was lost in Q2 2024.

Centralised exchanges accounted for the majority of the losses, accounting for $401 million, or 70% of the total.

As previously reported by Invezz, the crypto industry has lost over $19 billion to hackers over the past decade.

The 785 recorded incidents comprised 345 hacks of decentralised protocols, 220 cases of fraud, and 220 security breaches. 2011 saw the first reported hack.

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