Over $200 million worth of cryptocurrency has been lost to hacks and rug pulls in 2024 year-to-date (YTD) across 32 individual incidents, according to a Feb. 29 research report by blockchain security firm Immunefi.
The over $200 million loss YTD represents a 15.4% increase compared to January and February 2023, when $173 million of digital assets were stolen.
February saw over $67 million worth of crypto stolen across 12 specific hack and fraud incidents. This represents a nearly 50% decrease from January, which recorded $133 million worth of stolen crypto.
Most of the stolen funds this year, or $32.3 million, were lost during a cyberattack on PlayDapp, a crypto gaming platform. Decentralized crypto exchange FixedFloat incurred the second-largest theft of $26.1 million. Decentralized finance (DeFi) was the main target for exploits in February, while centralized finance protocols didn’t witness a single major attack during the month.
Hacks accounted for over $65 million (97.54%) of the stolen funds in February across 10 individual incidents, while the month’s two fraud cases amassed $1.65 million, or 2.46% of the stolen value.
Ethereum was the most targeted network for hackers in February, followed by Binance’s BNB Chain and the Bitcoin network. Ethereum suffered 12 individual attacks, accounting for over 85% of the total value lost so far this year. The Bitcoin network and the BNB Chain suffered one incident each.
Hacks and exploits have been a growing concern in the crypto industry, especially for DeFi applications. A total of $1.8 billion was lost to crypto hacks and scammers in 2023, of which 17% can be attributed to the North Korean Lazarus Group, according to a Dec. 28 report by Immunefi.
Peer-to-peer trading platform Mixin Network suffered the biggest attack in 2023, which resulted in over $200 million of losses, followed by the $197 million hack on the Euler Finance lending platform. The $126 million hack on cross-chain bridge protocol Multichain took third place.
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