The cryptocurrency industry suffered losses totalling $336.3 million from hacks and scams in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report from blockchain security firm Immunefi. The losses mark a 23% decline from the same period last year but underscore persistent vulnerabilities in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

The two largest crypto exploits of Q1 were the $81.7 million Orbit Bridge hack in January and the $62 million Munchables NFT game incident in March, together accounting for 43% of the quarter's total losses. While the Munchables funds were eventually recovered, the twin attacks highlight how cross-chain bridges and gaming applications remain prime targets for bad actors.

Hacking dominated the illicit activity, comprising 95.6% of the $336.3 million in losses across 46 separate incidents. Fraud, scams and rug pulls made up the remaining 4.4% at $14.7 million over 15 incidents.

Ethereum surpassed BNB Chain as the most exploited blockchain network, suffering 51% of the quarterly attacks. BNB Chain ranked second with 22% of funds lost.

"DeFi faced significant challenges, accounting for 100% of total losses in Q1 2024," said Mitchell Amador, founder and CEO of Immunefi. "The ecosystem witnessed a considerable volume of losses due to private key compromises, emphasizing the critical need to secure both code and protocol infrastructure."

Despite the elevated losses, the 61 attacks recorded mark a 17.6% decrease from 74 incidents in Q1 2023. Immunefi says it has paid over $95 million in bug bounties while helping secure over $25 billion in user funds across major DeFi protocols.

As investors continue pouring capital into DeFi applications and cross-chain interoperability expands, the crypto industry's ability to fortify security vulnerabilities will remain under intense scrutiny.

Image source: Strike security