In a notable shift, June saw a significant drop in cryptocurrency losses due to hacks, down 54.2% from the previous month, according to the latest data. Data From PeckShield.
This decline in cyber theft points to an evolving space in crypto security, even as the industry struggles with ongoing challenges.
June’s most important events and their broader implications
Data from PeckShield, a popular crypto analytics firm, shows that June saw around 20 hacking incidents, resulting in losses of around $176 million. This is a significant drop from the massive $385 million in losses in May.
Among the notable breaches, cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk suffered the single largest exploit, losing over $100 million in assets. This was followed by centralized exchange Lykke, which suffered a $22 million setback, and decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol UwU Lend, which lost $19.4 million.
#Beck_shield_alert June 2024 saw over 20 cryptocurrency hacks, resulting in losses of around $176.2 million. This is a 54.2% decrease from May 2024 (with around $385 million in hacker profits).#summit 5 hacks:#Btktrac: $100.25 million (CeFi)#happiness:$22M (CeFi)#Yourrend:$19.4… pic.twitter.com/83XzWf82kw
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) July 1, 2024
Despite the June dip, the second quarter overall was a turbulent one, with nearly $572.68 million withdrawn due to hacks and fraud — a 70.3% increase from the first quarter and a 112% year-over-year rise, according to data from Immunefi.
In the report, Emonifi founder Mitchell Amador noted:
This quarter highlights how infrastructure breaches can be the most devastating breaches in the crypto world, with a single breach potentially causing millions of dollars in damage. This was evident during the quarter, as losses primarily rose due to breaches targeting CeFi infrastructure, outpacing DeFi, despite there being fewer breaches in this sector. Strong measures to protect the entire ecosystem are crucial.
Interestingly, while May was the month that saw the peak losses, which amounted to $358.5 million, there was a silver lining as around $28.7 million was recovered across several incidents, including those involving Bloom, ALEX Lab, Gala Games, and YOLO Games.
Emerging Threats and Defensive Strategies
The quarter also highlighted the growing threat posed by deepfakes. “Sophisticated” impersonations generated by AI are becoming a huge challenge in crypto, especially in fraud.
Exchanges are increasingly turning to advanced solutions like those offered by Sumsub, a leading provider of customer identity verification services. For example, Bitget has partnered with Sumsub to bolster its defenses, with the goal of protecting its users around the world.
Gracie Chen, CEO of Bitget, noted:
We urgently need new industry safety standards and an industry-wide protocol to protect users from this threat. Through our collaboration with Sumsub, we aim to continuously develop new forms and standards for safety, and share important data to improve the process.
Furthermore, this partnership represents a proactive approach to addressing the deepfake dilemma, which has seen a 217% increase in detections within the crypto sector from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024, according to Bitget. a report.
Featured image created using DALL-E, chart from TradingView