In November 2024, cryptocurrency losses reached the second-lowest level at $71 million.
The cryptocurrency industry recorded its second-lowest monthly losses in November 2024, losing $71 million across 26 incidents, according to blockchain security firm Immunefi.
This is a significant improvement compared to November 2023, when the company recorded a loss of $343 million, representing a 79% year-over-year decline and a 4% month-over-month decline.
Year-to-date (YTD) figures show the industry lost $1.48 billion in 2024 due to hacking and lug pulling in 209 incidents. This is a 15% decrease compared to the loss of $1.7 billion in the same period in 2023.
November Hacking
According to Immunefi, most of November’s losses came from two accidents. DeFi project Thala Labs lost $25.5 million, while memecoin trading terminal DEXX lost $21 million.
The company noted that all cases reported this month involved DeFi platforms that outperformed centralized finance (CeFi). DeFi incidents accounted for 100% of fund losses.
Meanwhile, hacking remained the leading cause of loss, with $70.99 million in losses across 24 hacking incidents. Lug pulling contributed a smaller amount, $25,300 in losses in two cases.
Across chains, the Binance-backed BNB chain was the most targeted blockchain, accounting for nearly 47% of total losses for all chains. It added:
“Ethereum experienced 9 incidents, representing 30% of all incidents. Solana, Polygon, Fantom, Avalanche, Arbitrum and Aptos each experienced one incident and each accounted for 3.3%.”
CEX accounts for 50% of cryptocurrency losses in 2024.
Centralized exchanges (CEXs) have emerged as an important target in 2024, accounting for nearly 50% of all cryptocurrency-related losses to date. Immunefi reported that CEX-related losses totaled $724 million, the highest rate of attacks on centralized platforms since 2021.
The resurgence of CEX vulnerabilities was particularly notable in the third quarter, when 72% of cryptocurrency losses resulted from CeFi hacks. For context, a single attack on Indian exchange WazirX last July resulted in $235 million in losses.
Immunefi highlighted that vulnerabilities in CeFi often arise from compromised hot wallets, allowing attackers to exfiltrate significant funds. CEX’s $724 million in losses in 2024 occurred over just 9 incidents, while in DeFi, a similar amount occurred across 200 attacks.
The security firm noted that black hat hackers have adopted innovative methods to exploit centralized platforms.
These techniques include infiltrating internal teams and infrastructure by impersonating recruiters or obtaining fake job postings. These threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often going undetected until significant damage has been done.