Hackers and scammers made away with more than $3 billion last year, marking a 14.9% increase from $2.6 billion in 2023, Peckshield’s recent report shows. The blockchain security company has also revealed that hacks on crypto platforms accounted for $2.14 billion or approximately 70% of the total loss, while scammers stole nearly $900 million.
Meanwhile, about $488 million in stolen crypto was recovered. That figure represents a 27.6% drop compared to 2023, when over $674 million worth of stolen assets was recovered. Although recovering close to half a billion dollars is good news, the increase in hack incidents calls for the need to employ better security measures.
DeFi Comes Under Attack
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) saw the most hack incidents in 2024, according to PeckShield. In May alone, bad actors attacked DeFi protocols and stole over $660 million. Furthermore, DeFi users lost roughly $280 million and $290 million in July and August, respectively. Hack incidents dropped in December, with users losing $46.4 million, the lowest in 2024.
Major Crypto Heists in 2024
One of the biggest crypto heists last year was the attack on Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin. Hackers stole over $305 million from the platform’s treasury. Another major heist involves gaming platform PlayDapp, where attackers made away with $290 million.
The third-biggest heist is a $237 million Bitcoin scam, in which a social engineering attack was launched on a Genesis creditor, who lost over 4,000 BTC. Further, Gala Games and Indian exchange WazirX were attacked, losing $211 million and $228 million, respectively.
Blockchain Security Notes an Increase in Phishing Scams
A few days before PeckShield released its report, another blockchain security company, CertiK, noted that phishing scams were on the rise. The firm says perpetrators behind these scams caused losses worth over $1 billion across 294 incidents in 2024. For beginners, phishing scams are those that trick crypto users into sharing confidential information like private keys.
It is worth highlighting that three phishing attacks caused a combined loss of $300 million last year.
That said, CertiK has warned crypto users against sharing their passwords or private keys with people who pose as customer support employees for crypto firms.
