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It was surely seen that cryptocurrency scams and hacks have risen to new peaks in the year 2024. Over $1.2 billion worth of crypto has been stolen from different blockchain platforms and centralized exchanges. Research by Rekt database shows control exploitation and phishing as the two dominant forms of attack indicating how these attacks are commonly targeted and executed.
Centralized Exchanges: The Prime Target
As might be expected, most targeted were centralized exchanges (CEXs) which are not blockchains themselves, but represented 50.13% of total losses and $640 million in the process. Most shows working in this industry rely on blockchain for validation of transactions making them a preferred subject for hackers.
This year’s biggest revealed hack occurred at Japan’s DMM Bitcoin exchange to which the hackers got away with $300 million. This attack believed to include private key theft or address spoofing, is one of the biggest in the history of the cryptocurrency market of 2024.
Ethereum: The Leading Blockchain Under Siege, Industry Identifies
Ethereum, well-known for DeFi applications and a devastating number of smart contracts, lost $228.6 million (17.91% of the overall funds stolen). Due to these facts, it is very popular among users and has great coverage, but it attracts hackers as well, due to numerous instances of suspicious activity in sophisticated smart contracts.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC) was another area of focus for the hackers who stole $89.85 million (7.04%). This is fast, cheap, and has high usage in the DeFi space but has multiple risks within decentralized applications.
Other Smaller Platforms and Emerging Networks Were Also Affected
Combined, the other smaller blockchain platforms incurred $127.25 million or 9.97% in losses, pointing out that these fresh blockchain networks are far from being secure and protected mostly due to their relative infancy.
Critically, Blast, which is a relatively young and rapidly developing blockchain, has reported $64.35 million in damages. Thanks to its high-speed work, the network has become actively used by spammers and other interested individuals as well as a great number of hackers and other malicious spirits.
High-Profile Attacks: Ripple and Wazirx
WazirX exchange of India lost $230 million because of exploited defects in the access control mechanisms. This break was similar to the attack on the DMM Bitcoin and highlighted the many vulnerabilities inherent in exchange-based systems.
Probably one of the worst attacks on a single person was the one aimed at former Ripple founder, Chris Larsen, who lost $112.5 million. The attackers got through the poor access control to perform this stunt, which suggests that no one, not even popular industry personalities, are immune.
Enhancing the Security of the Blockchain Networks
By observing the continuous stream of attacks in the year 2024, one will learn that hackers are now evolving more than ever and all blockchain networks both big and small are not exempted. As we have seen with Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain problems, security is now more necessary. But as the ballooning cryptocurrency space evolves, protecting users and networks will remain paramount to the future of such platforms in the industry.