In the initial quarter of this year, the cryptocurrency sector experienced a decrease of 23.1% in losses due to hacking, totaling $336.3 million.
According to a report by Immunefi, within the first three months of 2024, the crypto domain suffered losses exceeding $321 million, stemming from 46 hacking incidents and 15 instances of fraud.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) emerges as a primary target for hackers, encompassing the entirety of losses within the crypto sphere. Mitchell Amador, CEO of Immunefi, attributes this vulnerability to the frequent compromise of private keys in DeFi platforms.
Comparing the first quarter of 2024 to the same period in 2023, there was a decrease of 17.5% in the number of hacker attacks. Ethereum (ETH) network bore the brunt of 33 incidents, followed by BNB Chain (BNB) with 14 attacks. Combined, Ethereum and BNB Chain represented more than 73% of the total funds lost.
Among the notable hacks were breaches on the Orbit Bridge and the Munchables web3 gaming platform, resulting in thefts of over $81 million and almost $63 million, respectively. Following them were PlayDapp and FixedFloat, incurring losses of $32 million and $26 million, respectively.
Hacking remains the predominant method of crypto theft, constituting 95.6% of total losses, whereas fraud contributes only 4.4%. Analysts note a decline of 22.4% in fraud cases over the past year.
In 2023, hackers siphoned $19 million from crypto projects, compared to $14 million this year. However, only $73 million, equivalent to 22% of stolen funds, were returned.
It’s worth mentioning that the centralized finance (CeFi) sector registered no losses in the first quarter of 2024, in contrast to the $1.8 million lost during the same period last year.
