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Hackers stole greater than twice as a lot cryptocurrency within the first half of 2024—primarily based on the U.S. greenback worth of the cash—in comparison with the primary six months of 2023, in accordance with a current report by blockchain intelligence agency TRM Labs.
Crypto thefts totaled $1.38 billion up via June 24 of this 12 months, greater than double the $657 million stolen as of the identical time in 2023. Whole crypto thefts so far in 2024 have already practically reached the $1.7 billion in worth stolen throughout all of final 12 months, per TRM information.
Only a handful of incidents made up the majority of worth stolen in each instances. The most important 5 hacks of the 12 months to date accounted for 70% of the overall quantity swiped. Notable incidents embrace the theft of greater than 4,500 BTC valued at over $300 million from Japanese change DMM Bitcoin in Could, probably as a result of stolen non-public keys or tackle poisoning.
Per TRM, essentially the most outstanding assault vectors stay non-public key and seed phrase compromises, good contract exploits, and flash mortgage assaults. The agency discovered no notable modifications within the safety of the cryptocurrency ecosystem or the variety of assaults between final 12 months and this 12 months. Nonetheless, crypto costs have been a lot increased on common to date this 12 months, which can be boosting the tally.
No single month in 2024 to date has been an outlier, with theft volumes increased in every of the primary six months of the 12 months than the corresponding month in 2023. Nonetheless, 2024 crypto thefts stay properly under 2022 figures to date.
It’s one other signal of the far-reaching affect of main hacks, which merchants have not too long ago been reminded of as long-defunct change Mt. Gox—the goal of one of many earliest crypto hacks greater than a decade in the past—has transferred $2.7 billion in BTC because it begins repaying collectors.
Earlier Friday, the worth of Bitcoin fell under $54,000, its lowest stage since February, following the Mt. Gox information.
Whereas hacks have been a priority all through the historical past of cryptocurrency, and they aren’t getting simpler for the ecosystem to keep away from, TRM recommends traders and organizations implement a multi-layered protection technique. That features periodic safety audits, encryption, and multisig wallets to greatest defend crypto property.
Decrypt reached out to TRM Labs for extra element or remark across the report, however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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