The cryptocurrency market has been plagued by rug pulls, exit scams, and hacks recently, causing concern among the crypto community. Surprisingly, the losses from these incidents have exceeded the damages resulting from DeFi hacks. According to a report from Immunefi, Web 3 platforms have lost over $1.2 billion in 2023, with almost $23.4 million lost in August alone. Interestingly, the majority of these losses in August were experienced by projects on the Ethereum Layer 2 Base network.
One example of a recent attack is Platypus DeFi Protocol, which suffered three flash loan attacks on October 12th, resulting in a total loss of $2.23 million. This is the third time Platypus has been exploited this year, with previous losses of $8.5 million and $157,000. The February attack caused its stablecoin USP to depeg from $1 to $0.48.
Alameda Research, a hedge fund associated with FTX, has reportedly lost over $190 million due to avoidable scams. A former engineer turned whistleblower revealed that inadequate industry-standard practices and poor decision-making led to these losses.
Galxe, a self-sovereign identity protocol, has announced plans to compensate users affected by a phishing attack on October 6th. Approximately 1,120 users lost funds totaling over $396,000. Galxe blamed the breach on an impersonator gaining unauthorized access through their domain registrar Dynadot.
Upbit, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, faced over 159,000 hacking attempts in the first half of 2023. Although they had previously experienced a $50 million exploit in 2019, they temporarily suspended Aptos token services due to a fraudulent token scam.
Huobi Global’s crypto exchange HTX fell victim to a hacker who stole 5,000 ETH worth $8 million. However, HTX was able to reach an agreement with the hacker, offering a 5% bounty if 95% of the funds were returned.
Friend.tech, an online platform, experienced a SIM-swapping attack where a scammer stole approximately $385,000 worth of Ether from eight users. Manifold Trading warned that around $20 million in funds belonging to Friend.tech could be at risk.
In conclusion, the cryptocurrency market has seen a surge in security breaches and hacks, causing significant financial losses for individuals and platforms. It is crucial for users to prioritize security measures such as two-factor authentication and for companies to implement robust security practices to protect against these threats.
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