Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics company that provides data analysis on the blockchain ecosystem, has reported that the volume of compromised crypto funds and the number of hacking incidents are set to rise in 2024.
The report states that the total amount of stolen crypto funds rose by approximately 21.07% year-over-year (YoY), reaching $2.2 billion over the period. It also reports that the number of individual cyber-attacks increased from 282 in 2023 to 303 incidents in 2024, an increase of 34 per cent.
During its report this year, Chainalysis noted that hackers also increasingly target centralized services such as cryptocurrency exchanges. In addition to Bitcoin's 140% increase in value this year surpassing $100,000, the rise in crypto heists also coincides with the institutional support of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
There have been 303 hacking incidents so far in 2023, compared to 282 in 2023 and 1.8 billion dollars, but that’s only about Rs. 15,302 crores, which means hackers stole 1.8 billion dollars (roughly Rs. 15,302 crores) in 2023, according to the report.
There has been an increase in crypto heists as the value of Bitcoin reached $100,000 (roughly Rs. 85 lakh) this year, and it has drawn institutional support and backing from US President-elect Donald Trump, who has become one of the biggest supporters of the digital currency.
It is noted that DeFi still accounted for the largest share of stolen assets in the first quarter of 2024, but centralized services were more likely to be hacked during the second and third quarters.
According to Chainalysis' report, several notable hacks of centralized services occurred, such as the hack of DMM Bitcoin in May 2024, which cost $305 million, and WazirX in July 2024, which cost $234.9 million.
The WazirX hack in July of this year resulted in huge losses for the Indian cryptocurrency exchange, which has responded by stopping users from withdrawing their remaining cryptocurrency and is currently requesting a reorganization in Singapore.
In addition, the Chainalysis report noted that North Korean hackers continue to try to steal cryptocurrency, particularly to avoid sanctions, as well as that the North Korean hackers are continuing to conduct cyber-attacks.
As the industry faces an increasingly challenging environment in the new year, the industry has a lot of work to do to fight the proliferation of such crimes, especially fraud, that will undoubtedly pose a key challenge.
Several reports concluded that the majority of the stolen crypto this year resulted from compromised private keys that control access to users' assets. A majority of the attacks targeted centralized platforms.
There were several notable hacks during the past year. The most significant ones were the theft of $305 million from Japan's DMM Bitcoin in May, and the loss of $235 million from India's WazirX in July. According to Chainalysis, North Korea-related crypto hacking increased by more than double from a year ago to 1.3 billion dollars in 2024, which is a record.
