Hackers stole greater than twice as a lot cryptocurrency within the first half of 2024—based mostly on the U.S. greenback worth of the cash—in comparison with the primary six months of 2023, based on a latest report by blockchain intelligence agency TRM Labs.
Crypto thefts totaled $1.38 billion up by way of June 24 of this yr, greater than double the $657 million stolen as of the identical time in 2023. Whole crypto thefts to date in 2024 have already practically reached the $1.7 billion in worth stolen throughout all of final yr, per TRM knowledge.
Only a handful of incidents made up the majority of worth stolen in each circumstances. The biggest 5 hacks of the yr to date accounted for 70% of the full quantity swiped. Notable incidents embrace the theft of greater than 4,500 BTC valued at over $300 million from Japanese trade DMM Bitcoin in Could, doubtlessly on account of stolen non-public keys or tackle poisoning.
Per TRM, essentially the most outstanding assault vectors stay non-public key and seed phrase compromises, sensible contract exploits, and flash mortgage assaults. The agency discovered no notable modifications within the safety of the cryptocurrency ecosystem or the variety of assaults between final yr and this yr. Nevertheless, crypto costs have been a lot greater on common to date this yr, which can be boosting the tally.
No single month in 2024 to date has been an outlier, with theft volumes greater in every of the primary six months of the yr than the corresponding month in 2023. Nonetheless, 2024 crypto thefts stay nicely beneath 2022 figures to date.
It’s one other signal of the far-reaching influence of main hacks, which merchants have lately been reminded of as long-defunct trade Mt. Gox—the goal of one of many earliest crypto hacks greater than a decade in the past—has transferred $2.7 billion in BTC because it begins repaying collectors.
Earlier Friday, the value of Bitcoin fell beneath $54,000, its lowest degree since February, following the Mt. Gox information.
Whereas hacks have been a priority all through the historical past of cryptocurrency, and they aren’t getting simpler for the ecosystem to keep away from, TRM recommends buyers and organizations implement a multi-layered protection technique. That features periodic safety audits, encryption, and multisig wallets to finest defend crypto belongings.
Decrypt reached out to TRM Labs for added element or remark across the report, however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Edited by Andrew Hayward