The month of June witnessed a 54.2% drop in the net losses from crypto hacks and exploits.
The industry in June recorded a net loss of $176 million a significant drop from the case in May when hackers stole a whopping $385 million.
Crypto Analytics firm Peckshield reported approximately 20 hacking incidents in June, totaling a net loss of $176 million. The report broke down the various crypto exchanges that suffered the losses with the respective amounts they lost.
Leading the way is BtcTurk crypto exchange whose exploit was the biggest hack for June. The hackers got away with over $100 million in crypto assets, according to Peckshield data.
Early estimates from on-chain watcher ZachXBT put the losses at around $55 million.
The second-largest exploit for the month of June involved centralized exchange Lykke, with $22 million in losses.
The third-largest exploit was on the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol UwU Lend, which suffered a $19.4 million loss.
The fourth and the fifth largest exploit for June occurred in both decentralized exchanges Holograph and Velocore. Holograph suffered a $14.4 million loss to exploits while Velocore suffered a $6.8 million loss.
Centralized exchanges took the biggest hit this quarter
Centralized exchanges were the victims of the top two exploits in June followed by decentralized exchanges. It Turned out that it is actually a trend with centralized exchanges suffering the most exploits in the industry in 2024.
The month of May 2024 recorded the biggest loss to hacks in the crypto industry for the year. The month saw nearly $385 million worth of crypto assets stolen by hackers.
The biggest single loss recorded in May occurred on May 31. A private key hack of crypto exchange DMM drained $305 million worth of Bitcoin from the exchange.
Aside from May, February saw net losses of $360 million, while April saw the lowest number, with $60.19 million.
Centralized exchange hacks and exploits made up a huge percentage of losses to hacks in the crypto industry this quarter.
This quarter, losses from centralized protocols and exchange exploits amounted to $401 million, or 70% of the total.
Despite the overwhelming loss in centralized exchanges, data revealed that centralized exchanges were breached fewer times than decentralized exchanges in the quarter.
What to know
- A centralized exchange (CEX) is an online platform that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies. CEXs are similar to stock exchanges but for digital assets. examples of centralized exchanges include Binance and Coinbase.
- Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are peer-to-peer marketplaces that allow cryptocurrency buyers and sellers to transact directly with each other. DEXs are different from centralized exchanges (CEXs) because they don’t require an intermediary, such as a bank or stockbroker, to oversee the security and transfer of assets. Instead, DEXs use smart contracts and a blockchain or distributed ledger to record transactions and eliminate single points of failure. Examples of DEX include Uniswap and PancakeSwap.