Crypto Losses in May 2024 Reach Unprecedented High, Decline in June

Crypto Losses in May 2024 Reach Unprecedented High, Decline in June

In May 2024, the crypto sector faced its most significant losses to date, with nearly $385 million lost to hacks and exploits. However, June saw a considerable decline in such losses.

According to PeckShield, a crypto analytics firm, June reported around 20 hacking incidents, resulting in a net loss of approximately $176 million. This marks a substantial 54.2% decrease from May’s staggering $385 million in losses.

The most notable hack in June involved BtcTurk, a crypto exchange, where hackers absconded with over $100 million in assets. Early estimates by onchain analyst ZachXBT placed these losses at around $55 million. The second-largest incident was a $22 million exploit at the centralized exchange Lykke, followed by a $19.4 million loss at the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol UwU Lend.

Centralized exchanges were the top targets for hackers in June, with two of the largest exploits occurring in these platforms, followed by three DeFi protocols.

May’s crypto losses were unprecedented, with the largest single loss occurring on May 31 due to a private key hack at the crypto exchange DMM, resulting in a $305 million Bitcoin theft.

Earlier in the year, February recorded net losses of $360 million, while April had the lowest, with $60.19 million in losses.

Despite the decline in June, the second quarter of 2024 saw a 115% increase in losses compared to the same period in 2023. Q2 2023 recorded $220 million in losses, whereas Q2 2024 saw a staggering $572 million.

Centralized exchanges were the main contributors to these losses, accounting for $401 million, or 70% of the total for the quarter. Although losses from centralized exchanges were higher, only a small fraction of attacks on these platforms were successful. Hackers breached centralized platforms five times this quarter, while decentralized protocols suffered 62 successful exploits.