Crypto Crime Losses Hit Lowest Point Since 2021: Here’s What Changed

April 2024 marked a significant turning point for cryptocurrency security, witnessing a notable decline in hacking, exploits, and scam losses. This drop, the lowest since 2021, brought relief to investors and industry followers. Insights from the Blockchain security platform CertiK reveal total losses for the month around $25.7 million, marking a substantial 141% decrease compared to the previous month.

Unpacking the Numbers

Total Losses in April 2024: Approximately $25.7 million

Breakdown of Losses

1. Exploits:

The bulk of losses, totaling around $21 million, stemmed from exploits. Exploits exploit vulnerabilities or weaknesses in smart contracts or blockchain protocols, posing a persistent threat to the crypto ecosystem.

2. Exit Scams:

Exit scams, where fraudulent projects vanish after raising funds, contributed to losses of approximately $4.3 million. These scams entice investors with promises of high returns, only to disappear with their funds.

3. Flash Loan Attacks:

Minor losses of about $129,000 were attributed to flash loan attacks, a tactic using uncollateralized loans within a single transaction block for illicit financial gain.

Despite the positive trend, April witnessed significant breaches and scams resulting in substantial losses. For instance, the Condom meme coin debacle misled users with a fake presale address on the Solana network, resulting in a loss of approximately $933,000. Another significant incident targeted the Bitcoin Lightning Network exchange FixedFloat on April 1, resulting in a $3 million loss, marking the second hack on FixedFloat in 2023.

PeckShield’s Perspective

In a separate analysis by the on-chain security firm PeckShield, crypto hack losses in April 2024 amounted to $60.2 million, a stark decline from the $187.6 million recorded in March.

Comparatively, April’s losses of $360.8 million showed a significant decrease from the same period last year, which totaled $440.9 million.

Distribution of the losses in April can be attributed to almost 40 separate hacks, with the largest of which belongs to Hedgey Finance, a token infrastructure provider, who lost $44.7 million as a result of a vulnerability on the Arbitrum Network. The market participants such as FixedFloat, and Pike Finance also underwent large losses.

What Caused the Decline?

Several key factors contributed to this notable decline in losses attributed to hacks, exploits, and scams within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

1. Private Key Security

The fact that many of the crypto hacks in April witnessed a significant fall in fights against private key compromises is the main reason behind the downturn in the number of hack losses in the month. The violation of the private key is certainly one of the vital cryptocurrency vulnerabilities since it gives the thieves the power of free control over digital wallets. 

As it was earlier reported in March, these 11 cases were related to the private key compromise targeting protocols. This declined greatly and the number remained at only three cases in April. The public key compromises dropped to the largest extent for the past month which, in turn, led to the most substantial reduction of the total hacker withdrawal.

2. Enhanced Security Measures and Awareness

The total reduction in hack-related losses can also be tied to the stiff security measures that are being put in place and not forgetting that there is an increased awareness amongst crypto users and platforms. They are updated more often and as a result, things are more secure with many people auditing and checking for vulnerabilities.

3. Collaborative Efforts Against Scams & Frauds

Combined efforts of regulatory organizations, cybersecurity companies and industry participants to crack down on the scams and fraud in the crypto realm has a role in fewer hacks. Agencies have broadly stepped up the enforcement actions, increased their capacity to monitor and finally collaborate. The ability to leave no stone unturned in uncovering and dismantling scams poses fewer avenues for criminals to operate.

Is the crypto space finally getting safer? We’re excited and pumped for these changes!

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