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Cryptocurrency Thefts Double to $1.4 Billion in First Half of 2024
Image: Thana Prasongsin (Getty Images)
In the first half of this year, cryptocurrency hackers stole twice as much as they did in the first half of 2023, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM. By June 24, 2024, hackers had stolen $1.38 billion, up from $657 million in the same period last year.
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Similar to 2023 and previous years, in 2024, a small number of attacks accounted for the majority of stolen funds. Five large attacks accounted for 70% of all stolen cryptocurrencies.
The amount of cryptocurrency stolen this year is still less than the nearly $2 billion stolen in the first six months of 2022, which marked a record year for cryptocurrency theft. According to blockchain data platform ChainalysisIn 2022, over $3.8 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from users.
The report says that hackers’ most common method of stealing cryptocurrency in 2024 was to gain unauthorized access to private keys and seed codes, which are the strings of numbers that allow access to a cryptocurrency wallet. Hackers also exploited smart contracts and flash loans.
According to the report, the largest attack of 2024 stole over $300 million in Bitcoin and 4,500 tokens from Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin.
The Biggest Cryptocurrency Hack To Date It happened in March 2022 when hackers attacked the Ronnin network that supports the popular blockchain gaming platform Axie Infinity. They stole approximately $625 million worth of Ethereum and the stablecoin USDC.
The heist involved 173,600 Ether worth just under $595 million and $25.5 million in USDC. U.S. officials declared that a North Korean-backed hacking group, Lazarus Group, was responsible for the theft. A month later, Binance recovered $5.8 million of the stolen funds, but it remains the largest hack in history.