In 2024, the volume of cryptocurrency thefts rose to $2.2 billion, which is 21% more than last year, according to the report by Chainalysis analysts.
Since the beginning of the year, the crypto industry has experienced 303 hacker attacks compared to 282 in 2023. These hacks led to significant losses, with the majority of funds, nearly $1.58 billion, being stolen from January to July. This period accounted for 72% of the total industry losses in 2024, which is 84% more than in the same period in 2023.
Unlike previous years, the main blow from hackers fell on centralized exchanges. Among the notable incidents was the hacking of the DMM Bitcoin protocol for $305 million in May and the hacking of the WazirX cryptocurrency exchange for $235 million in July.
The majority of thefts were related to the compromise of private keys. In 2024, this vulnerability accounted for almost 44% of all stolen funds.
Once again, North Korean hackers were the leaders in hacks. They accounted for 47 attacks totaling about $1.34 billion. This is 61% of all losses in the crypto industry this year, which is 103% more than the $660 million stolen by North Korean groups in 2023.
Chainalysis experts identified an interesting pattern: after the summit held at the end of June between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the number of attacks from North Korean hackers noticeably decreased. After July 1, the average daily amount of stolen funds dropped by almost 54%.
