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Hackers have stolen a whopping $1.38 billion through hacks and network exploits so far this year, a number that is expected to grow, if not double, by the end of the year.According to Bloomberg, five large attacks are responsible for 70% of the crypto stolen thus far. While that $1.38 billion number is large, it’s also below the record-setting $2 billion that was stolen during the same time period in 2022. The number does, however, represent almost double the amount that was stolen this time last year.The majority of the theft was caused by unauthorized access to private keys and seed codes. Other major causes include smart contract exploits and flash loan attacks.TRM Labs notes that there haven’t been any no fundamental changes in the security of the cryptocurrency ecosystem that may explain this upward trend. It also says it hasn’t “found significant differences in attack vectors or in the number of attacks between the first halves of 2023 and 2024.”The group’s current hypothesis is that the market had higher average token prices in 2024 vs 2023, which likely drove increased theft volumes.
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The largest attack in 2024 thus far, according to Bloomberg, stole $300 million in Bitcoin from the Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin. The cause of that particular attack is currently unknown.
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