Revealed! Drastic Drop in Crypto Hacking Losses in 2023

The year 2023 witnessed a significant drop in crypto losses, with staggering figures. A recent report from blockchain security firm CertiK revealed that losses due to hacking and other security incidents in the crypto industry dropped by 51% compared to the previous year. Check out the full news below!

Significant reduction in losses

Losses and security incidents by blockchain. Source: CertiK
According to CertiK's annual report titled "Hack3d: The Web3 Security Report 2023", the crypto industry lost more than $1.8 billion from 751 security incidents in 2023. This is significantly lower than the $3.7 billion lost in 2022. The report highlighted that the largest losses occurred in the third quarter totaling more than $686 million. The largest losses were caused by private key compromises, with more than $880 million lost in 47 incidents. The Ethereum network was the blockchain with the most losses, recording $686 million from 224 incidents. Meanwhile, BNB Chain experienced 387 incidents, but the total loss was only $134 million, much lower than Ethereum.

The Pattern Changes on Weekends

The image created by AI
The CertiK report also found an interesting fact that there is a decrease in hacking and fraud incidents during weekends in 2023. Ronghui Gu, co-founder of CertiK, revealed to TechCrunch+ that Tuesday to Friday have almost the same prevalence of incidents, while Monday is quieter, Saturday is even quieter, and Sunday is the safest day. Of all the incidents that occurred, 10 of them, including the Mixin and Euler Finance hacks, were responsible for $1.11 billion in losses. For the remaining incidents, the average median loss was around $101,000, indicating that most of the losses came from a few large incidents.

DeFi Security Still Not Ready

Despite the drop in losses, researchers cautioned that DeFi securities may not be ready for the crypto market surge. Ronghui Gu stated that the decrease in losses could be attributed to the bear market that led to a decrease in the value of tokens and treasuries. However, Gu is optimistic that if losses remain low during the bull market, this will signify that the Web3 industry has "learned its security lessons". Gu added that increased security is a positive development in 2023. He expects this trend to continue and be an indicator that the crypto industry is maturing in managing security risks.
Conclusion
CertiK's 2023 report paints a new picture of hope for a crypto industry that has long been plagued by security issues. This significant drop in losses may be a turning point for investor and user confidence in blockchain technology. Those of you who are involved in the crypto world can certainly breathe a sigh of relief, but still have to be aware of the potential risks ahead.