Crypto Hacks and Scams on the Rise
Zach Anderson May 02, 2023 08:16
Over $103 million was lost to crypto exploits, scams, and hacks in April, with the total loss for the year reaching $429.7 million. Major hacks included Bitrue exchange and South Korean GDAC exchange, and flash loan attacks took around $20 million. Exit scams saw a loss of $9.4 million.
Crypto security and auditing company CertiK reported a total loss of $103.7 million due to vulnerabilities, frauds, and hacks in the month of April. Because of this, the overall loss for the year amounts to 429.7 million dollars. The month was particularly marked by major hacks, including the theft of $22 million from a hot wallet exploit at the Bitrue exchange, which resulted in a loss of $22 million; the hack of South Korea's GDAC exchange, which resulted in a loss of $13 million; and the theft of $25.4 million due to an exploit of several MEV trading bots on April 3.
According to reports from CertiK, the overall losses incurred by crypto and DeFi exploits throughout the month amounted to $74.5 million. This is about half of the total $145 million that was exploited during the first four months of the year. assaults against flash loans were also common, resulting in losses of around $20 million. Yearn Finance was the primary victim of these assaults, which occurred when a hacker exploited an outdated smart contract on April 13.
In April, exit scams were another factor that contributed to the large amount of money lost, which was $9.4 million. The most successful exit scam for the month was perpetrated by Merlin DEX, which resulted in a loss of $2.7 million. Considering that the protocol had been audited by CertiK, which had previously warned about centralization problems, this was an especially worrying development. After the attack, Certik implemented a compensation plan, in which they demanded that the malicious developer pay back 80% of the stolen funds and offered a white hat bounty of 20% of the total amount.
In the month of April, the Rekt Database maintained by De.Fi documented over fifty crypto-related scams, hacks, and rug pulls. These Memecoin rug pulls made up a significant chunk of the total. The flash loan assault against the Polygon-based Ovix protocol, which occurred on April 28 and resulted in a loss of $2 million, was the most recent incident.
Hacks and frauds using cryptocurrencies are becoming more common, highlighting the need for stronger security measures inside the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Before putting money into any cryptocurrency project, it is essential for users and investors to do extensive research and due diligence on the project. Auditing companies such as CertiK play an essential part in determining the nature of any possible security threats that may exist and in elevating the level of industry-wide security.
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