Despite the growing mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, the threat of crypto hacks and exploits continues. However, a new report from Immunefi, a leading bug bounty platform, suggests that crypto losses due to hacks and rug pulls have declined in 2024 compared to the previous year.
According to the Immunefi Crypto Losses Report for November 2024, total losses for the year have reached $1,489,921,677 across 209 incidents. This represents a 15% decrease compared to the same period in 2023, when losses totaled $1,757,680,745.
November Losses and DeFi Dominance
November 2024 saw a particularly significant drop in losses. With only $71,021,500 lost across 26 incidents, it marks the second-lowest monthly loss of the year. This represents a 79% decrease compared to November 2023 and a 4% decrease from the previous month.
One notable trend in November was the dominance of decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks over CeFi. All 26 incidents in November targeted DeFi protocols.
BNB Chain and the Need for Enhanced Security
The report also reveals that BNB Chain was the most targeted blockchain for crypto hacks in November. BNB chain chacks accounted for 46.7% of total losses across all chains. Such a finding raises concerns about the security of BNB Chain and the need for enhanced security measures to protect users and funds.
The vulnerability of the BNB chain was highlighted in October 2024 when it suffered a significant exploit that resulted in a loss of $70 million.
Unfortunately, BNB Chain is not alone. Other notable crypto hacks in 2024 include the attack on DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, which resulted in the theft of over $300 million in May. Similarly, the Multichain protocol experienced an exploit that led to a loss of about $130 million.
These incidents underscore the ongoing need for robust security measures across all platforms and protocols.
