Originally published on: September 26, 2024
The third quarter of 2024 saw a significant decline in losses from crypto hacks and scams, dropping by 40% year-over-year to just $413 million, as reported by blockchain security platform Immunefi. This marks a stark contrast to the $685 million in losses reported in the same quarter of the previous year. Additionally, losses decreased by approximately 28% compared to the second quarter of 2024.
Although the overall trend is positive, there were still some notable incidents in Q3. The largest hack of the quarter targeted the WazirX crypto exchange, resulting in a loss of $235 million, followed by the $52 million BingX hack. These two incidents accounted for over 69% of the total losses for the quarter.
On the other hand, losses from rug pulls and other fraudulent activities were minimal, totaling only $3 million across three incidents, representing just 0.8% of the total losses. In fact, losses from scams plummeted by 86.4% compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
Exploits in decentralized finance (DeFi) also saw a significant decrease, with $103 million lost across 31 incidents, marking a 79.2% decline from the $500 million in losses reported in Q3 2023.
Despite these improvements, the vulnerability of centralized exchanges remains a concern in the crypto industry. Immunefi founder, Mitchell Amadour, highlighted the need to address key management issues to mitigate the risk of massive losses.
Overall, the decrease in losses can be attributed to advancements in wallet software that help identify scam addresses and warn users against engaging with them. While challenges persist, the industry is making strides towards a more secure crypto environment.
From a $50M phisher moving crypto on CoW to Bankroll Network DeFi being hacked, the crypto space continues to face evolving threats and risks.
