May was the biggest month for crypto losses in 2024 so far, with nearly $385 million in net losses from crypto hacks.
Decline in Losses from Crypto Hacks in June
According to data from the crypto analytics firm PeckShield, June saw a significant decrease in losses from cryptocurrency hacks. Approximately 20 hacking incidents were reported, leading to a net loss of nearly $176 million, a 54.2% decrease from May’s $385 million.
Source: PeckShield
The largest hack in June was the BtcTurk crypto exchange exploit, with hackers stealing over $100 million in crypto assets. Early estimates from onchain sleuth ZachXBT put the losses at around $55 million. The second-largest exploit involved the centralized exchange Lykke, with $22 million in losses. The third-largest exploit was on the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol UwU Lend, which suffered a $19.4 million loss.
Crypto hack losses. Source: PeckShield
Centralized Exchanges and DeFi Protocols
Centralized exchanges took the top two spots for the highest losses in June, followed by three DeFi protocols. In May, the biggest single loss was from the May 31 private key hack of the crypto exchange DMM, which resulted in the theft of $305 million worth of Bitcoin.
Quarterly Trends and Comparisons
February saw net losses of $360 million, while April had the lowest number, with $60.19 million in losses. Despite the decrease in losses from exploits in June, the second quarter of 2024 saw a 115% increase in losses compared to the same period in 2023. Q2 of 2023 had $220 million in losses, while Q2 of 2024 saw over $572 million lost.
The majority of the quarter’s losses were attributed to centralized exchange hacks. Losses from centralized protocols and exchange exploits amounted to $401 million, or 70% of the total for the quarter. Although losses from centralized exchanges were higher, data indicates that only a small fraction of attacks against these exchanges were successful. Centralized platforms experienced five successful exploits this quarter, while decentralized protocols had a total of 62 successful exploits.
