Twice as much money was stolen in hacks and exploits during the first half of 2024 as in the same period a year earlier, as a few big attacks and rising crypto prices drove the total higher, according to a report from blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs.
By June 24, attackers had stolen $1.38 billion, compared with $657 million during the same period in 2023.
The top five hacks and exploits accounted for 70% of the total amount stolen so far this year.
TRM said it had observed no fundamental changes in the security of the crypto ecosystem that might explain the upward trend, but the past six months saw significantly higher average token prices, which probably contributed to the increased theft volumes.
Higher values mean attackers are more motivated because they can steal more, Reuters reported, citing Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs.
Still, thefts from hacks and exploits in 2024, while exceeding last year, are about a third below losses from the same period in 2022, which remains a record year.
Crypto projects can protect themselves from hacks and exploits by implementing a multi-layered defense strategy, such as regular security audits, robust encryption, multi-signature wallets, and secure coding practices, TRM noted.
In May, DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese crypto exchange, suffered the biggest attack so far in 2024, DL News reported, losing more than 4,500 Bitcoin valued at more than $300 million at the time.
Data from DefiLlama aligns with the first-half figure doubling from that of last year.