August 2024 proved particularly challenging for the crypto industry, with hackers reportedly stealing approximately $313 million in digital assets across over ten separate incidents.
Major Losses
According to blockchain security company PeckShield, phishing attacks accounted for the majority of these losses, making up 95% of the stolen funds, which totals around $293.4 million. Another significant loss came from the Roin Network exploit, where $12 million of the stolen funds were recovered, yet unauthorized transactions amounting to $5.1 million still occurred. Additionally, decentralized finance protocol Nexera suffered losses of $1.83 million due to a smart contract issue.
Immunefi Report
Security company Immunefi released a report on August 29 that the total losses from hacks and exit scams in the crypto space have reached $1.21 billion. The report also highlights that many of these cryptocurrencies never fully recovered their values after being hacked, with about 80% failing to bounce back.
WazirX Incident
One of the largest attacks this month was the exploit involving WazirX, an India-based crypto exchange. The company lost $234.9 million from one of its wallets. This incident has raised major concerns in the industry, with speculation about the exchange potentially facing bankruptcy. However, WazirX is currently working on restoring operations and is pursuing legal action in Singapore as part of its recovery plan.
The series of hacking incidents in August 2024 serves as a stark reminder of the need to strengthen security measures within the crypto industry to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
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