In August 2024, the crypto ecosystem saw its lowest monthly losses this year. However, this development, which could be very encouraging for potential investors, is accompanied by increasing losses since the beginning of the year (YTD), indicating that the emerging industry could record even greater losses to bad actors in 2024 compared to the previous year.
August sees lowest crypto losses in 2024
according to Immunefi Cybersecurity CompanyThe digital asset industry recorded its lowest monthly losses this year in August, with just $15.1 million in losses due to hacks and fraud. This development represents a massive 38% drop from August 2033, which saw losses of around $24.6 million, and a staggering 94.5% drop from the figures recorded in July 2024.
Interestingly, all of the $15.1 million was lost due to five hacks and no fraudulent incidents were reported. Additionally, Ethereum and BNB Chain were the most targeted networks in August, accounting for the bulk of these losses.
Furthermore, Immuefi reported that all of the hacks occurred in the DeFi space but most of the losses were caused by one high-profile incident, the Ronin Bridge exploit that resulted in the loss of $12 million. However, the funds were later returned as the “attack” was orchestrated by white-hat hackers.
However, despite the decline in the amount of cryptocurrency losses in August, Immunefi reported that total losses to date in the crypto ecosystem have risen to $1.21 billion across 154 incidents, indicating a 15.5% increase compared to losses recorded in the same period in 2023.
This broader trend suggests that the crypto industry is still experiencing significant levels of vulnerability, with crypto losses in 2024 likely to end up higher than those recorded in 2023. This notion points to the need for enhanced security developments to protect the integrity of the crypto industry.
Cryptocurrency Market Overview
according to Data from Coingecko, The cryptocurrency market is on a downward trend, with the total market cap currently at $2.18 trillion, reflecting a slight decline of 0.19% in the last day. This represents a significant drop from $2.48 trillion a month ago.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin still dominates the market with a market cap of $1.17 trillion, accounting for 53.74% of the total market share. However, the leading cryptocurrency lost more than 10% of its value in August. Other major assets experienced similar declines; Ethereum fell 21.9%, Binance Coin (BNB) fell 7.3%, and Solana dropped 20.0%. However, the stablecoin market gained more momentum during the period with a total market cap increase of 3.69% to $169.85 billion.
Featured image by Simplilearn, chart by Tradingview