$2.36 Billion Lost to Cyber Attacks

The cryptocurrency industry experienced a lot of success in the year 2024 in terms of entry into the mainstream market. With that, the industry also saw major security breaches. The annual report by Certik is revealing; it shows 760 breaches the crypto industry lost over $2.36 billion in losses, a 31.61% increase from 2023.

Escalating Threats

It was the year that saw more frequent and intense cyber security threats. Hackers used more sophisticated techniques and the most common was phishing one. Phishing was again the biggest source of funds that were stolen and this ranged to $1.05 billion, 296 times with 3 occurrences of events with over $100 million. Marching next to it was private key compromises that involved $855 million in losses in 65 attacks.

Most Affected Chains, Ethereum Dominates Again

Ethereum was the most targeted case with 403 incidents within the period resulting in $748.6 million, with an average hack per Ethereum of $1.85 million. Two more blockchains that suffered were Bitcoin with $542.7 million and Tron with $133 million with an outflow within 24 hours of the attacks. The decentralized nature of mutli-chain affected it badly through 39 cases where exploits hit $435 million.

Peak Activity

May was the costliest for cyber attackers who made away with $444 million in 63 attacks. If we go by quarters,  the third quarter was notable, as it had $753 million stolen in 157 cyberattacks. But the fourth quarter appears to have marked a turning point: The losses were much lower than those in the previous three quarters, as there was a 46.65% loss reduction.

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Industry Successes in the Face of Adversities

Though the year 2024 focused much on security, it was a year of production in the development of the cryptocurrency industry. Since the election of the U.S. president, Bitcoin traded over $100,000, and through the endorsement by the SEC to take up the Bitcoin ETFs, the industry has been motivated even more. 

However, this takes place in the wake of having sufficient security frameworks that protect investors and the rest of the public. That, holds true even when traditional financial systems are integrated into cryptocurrencies. The main focus in the year 2025 will be on phishing attacks, defence of private keys and enhancements of the security mechanism of crypto platforms