CoinDesk Report:
According to a recent report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, hackers stole more than twice as much cryptocurrency by dollar value in the first half of 2024 compared to the first six months of 2023.
As of June 24 this year, the total amount stolen in cryptocurrency thefts amounts to $1.38 billion, more than double the $657 million stolen during the same period in 2023. TRM’s data shows that cryptocurrency thefts in 2024 have already approached nearly $1.7 billion, close to the total for the entire year of 2023.
A few incidents accounted for the majority of the stolen value in these cases. The largest five hacks so far this year comprised 70% of the total amount stolen. Notable incidents include the theft of over 4,500 bitcoins from the Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin in May, valued at over $300 million, possibly due to compromised private keys or poisoned addresses.
According to TRM, prominent attack vectors continue to include leakage of private keys and seed phrases, exploits of smart contract vulnerabilities, and flash loan attacks. The company found that security of the cryptocurrency ecosystem or the frequency of attacks has not significantly changed from last year to this year. However, with cryptocurrency prices averaging much higher this year so far, this may heighten the incentives for digital theft.
Thus far, no month in 2024 has been exceptional, with theft volumes in the first six months exceeding those of corresponding months in 2023. Nevertheless, cryptocurrency theft cases in 2024 remain significantly lower than those in 2022.
This marks another significant impact of major hacking incidents, prompting traders to recall Mt. Gox—the target of one of the earliest cryptocurrency hacks over a decade ago—which recently began repaying creditors, transferring $2.7 billion worth of BTC.
Earlier on Friday, the price of Bitcoin dropped below $54,000, reaching its lowest level since February.
While hacking has long been a concern in the history of cryptocurrencies and the ecosystem hasn’t become easier to navigate, TRM advises investors and organizations to implement multi-layered defense strategies. This includes regular security audits, encrypted and multi-signature wallets, to best protect cryptocurrency assets.
Decrypt reached out to TRM Labs for further details or comments on the report but did not receive an immediate response.
Andrew Hayward, Editor