Crypto hacks down by 54% with a $176 million loss in June

Blockchain security platform Peckshield has reported a decline in losses due to crypto hacks in June. A total of $176.2 million was lost in the month, a 54.2% decrease from the $385 million lost in May, according to the report.

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According to Peckshield, the biggest hacking incident targeted the Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk, where hackers stole over $100 million of assets in crypto hacks. Lykke (CeFi) suffered the second-largest heist, losing $22 million in crypto assets, Peckshield added. Decentralized finance crypto exchanges Uwu Lend, Holograph, and Velocore also lost a combined total of $40.6 to hackers.

The crypto detective ZachXBT had previously pegged the losses at approximately $54.2 million (1.96M AVAX), which was way below Peckshield’s final estimates. However, while ZachXBT’s estimate was likely from a single case, Peckshield’s data confirmed nearly 20 serious hacking incidents in June alone. 

Centralized exchanges suffer more losses 

Peckshield’s study revealed that centralized finance (CeFi) protocols were more prone to significant hacker exploits compared to decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The top 2 spots out of 5 were taken by CeFi companies with the highest June losses, while the bottom 3 were DeFi crypto companies.

However, the largest crypto hack loss reported from a single CeFi crypto exchange so far this year was in May 2024, when the centralized Japanese DMM crypto exchange announced a loss of Bitcoin (~4,502.9) worth over $305 million to hackers. 

“Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin reports a massive $300M loss after a hack! 4,502.9 Bitcoins stolen. DMM Bitcoin assures full reimbursement for users. Security measures and restrictions in place. Arkham Intel offers bounty to identify the hacker.”

– Gm

Peckshield noted that although the net losses in June had significantly decreased, centralized finance protocols in Q2 of 2024 accounted for almost 70% of the loss. The report confirmed that $401 million was lost through five exchange exploits of centralized protocols compared to the $171 million lost through 62 hacking incidents of decentralized exchange protocols so far. 

Peckshield uncovers more significant crypto hacks

According to Peckshield’s report, losses in February amounted to $360 million, while the losses in April were only $60.19 million. However, losses in Q2 of 2024 increased by 115% compared to the $220 million in losses disclosed by Peckshield in the same period in 2023. 

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Peckshield affirmed that only a small percentage of hacker attacks on centralized exchange protocols succeeded, while some stolen funds were recovered.  

“2023 saw 600+ major hacks in the crypto space, resulting in ~$2.61B in losses, with $674.9M recovered. $1.51B lost to hacks (excluding #Multichain unauthorized withdrawals) $1.1B to scams. This marks a 27.78% decrease from 2022. #DeFi protocols remained prime targets, accounting for 67% of total stolen value.”

– PeckShieldAlert

In particular, Peckshield’s June report reveals that BtcTurk and Lykke have lost a combined $122.25 million to hackers, while UwULend, Hologram, and Velocore lost $19.4 million, $14.4 million, and $6.8 million respectively. 

Cryptopolitan reporting by Collins J. Okoth