The amount of cryptocurrency stolen through hacks and network exploits more than doubled to $1.38 billion in the first six months of the year, according to the blockchain intelligence firm TRM. Five large attacks accounted for 70% of all the crypto that was stolen. Like in 2023 and other years, a small number of attacks constituted the majority of stolen funds. The amount of crypto plundered this year, however, is still below the nearly $2 billion that was stolen in the first six months of 2022, the record year for crypto thievery. Like this year, the prices of cryptocurrencies surged to record highs in the second half of 2021. TRM says that higher prices likely contribute to increased volumes of crypto theft. The top ways hackers stole crypto was by gaining unauthorized access to private keys and seed codes, which are the cryptographic strings of numbers that allow one to access a crypto wallet. The largest attack so far in 2024 stole over $300 million worth of Bitcoin, over 4,500 tokens, from Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin. The cause of the attack is still unknown.

Full report by TRM: Cryptocurrency stolen through hacks more than doubled to $1.38N in H1 2024 from a year earlier; five large attacks accounted for 70% of the crypto stolen.

While these are the largest cryptocurrency hacks that have happened in first half of 2024, OODA has been compiling a comprehensive Web3 incident database from the start of the cryptocurrency age based on our research to categorize what compromises are taking place as well as document the root causes that plague Cryptos, DeFi, NFTs, and Web3 in general. Tracking root causes provides comprehensive insights into how innovators can create robust cyber risk management approaches and reduce the potential for consequential attacks. You can access the OODA comprehensive Crypto Incident tracker here.