In the second quarter of 2024, the crypto ecosystem faced substantial losses, totaling $572.7 million due to hacks and frauds, marking a 112% increase from the same period last year, according to Immunefi’s latest quarterly report.

Year-to-date (YTD) losses from hacks and frauds have reached $920.9 million, a 24% rise compared to $702.9 million in the previous year.

May and June recorded particularly high losses, with May alone contributing $358.5 million—the highest monthly total of the quarter.

The report pointed out the sector's vulnerability, especially within centralized finance (CeFi) platforms, which accounted for 70% of the losses.

Major Incidents

The industry endured 53 hacks and 19 rug pulls in the second quarter, with the two most significant incidents causing over $400 million in losses—62.8% of the total quarterly losses.

The largest loss was due to a hack on DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese crypto exchange, resulting in a $305 million loss. The second largest incident was a cyberattack on Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk, leading to a $55 million loss.

Hacks remained the main cause of losses in the crypto sector, accounting for $564.2 million across 53 incidents—a 155% increase from the previous year.

In contrast, frauds, including rug pulls, led to $8.5 million in losses across 19 incidents, an 81% decrease from the prior year.

DeFi vs. CeFi

CeFi platforms bore 70% of the total losses, amounting to $401.4 million across five incidents, representing a 984% increase from the same period last year. Meanwhile, DeFi platforms saw a 25% decrease in losses, totaling $171.3 million across 62 incidents.

Ethereum and BNB Chain were the most targeted blockchain networks in the second quarter. Ethereum experienced 34 incidents, accounting for 46.6% of total losses across targeted chains, while BNB Chain faced 18 incidents, comprising 24.7% of the losses.

Other chains like Arbitrum, Blast, and Optimism also reported incidents to a lesser extent.

Recovery efforts led to the recovery of $26.7 million of stolen funds in four instances, making up 5% of the total losses. This shows a slight improvement compared to the 3.9% recovery rate in the second quarter of 2023.

The increase in losses due to hacks and frauds underscores the ongoing security challenges in the crypto industry. Immunefi’s report emphasized the need for enhanced security measures and vigilance across both DeFi and CeFi platforms to protect user funds and maintain trust in the ecosystem.