Crypto Hacks and Exploits Decline to $300M in Q2: Report

<p>Blockchain security company, Certik, has compiled a report
showing the value of cryptocurrencies lost in hacks and exploits during the second
quarter of the year. According to the report, hackers stole $313
million through different kinds of scams and malicious exploits during the period.</p><p>The amount lost did not
change much compared to the $320 million lost during the first quarter of the year.
However, the amount in the second quarter is much lower compared to that
which was recorded in the same period of 2022, which was at $745 million.</p><p>Surging Exit Scams</p><p>The total number of
security incidents in the second quarter was 212 and the amount lost to exit
scams was $70 million. It is almost double the figures recorded in the last quarter
at $31 million, according to the report released today (Wednesday).</p><p>An exit scam in the
cryptocurrency sector is a situation where an individual or an entity creates a
cryptocurrency project, promotes it until it achieves a certain monetary
value and then disappears, leaving investors with worthless tokens. This type of <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/education-centre/the-importance-of-staying-vigilant-against-crypto-scams/" target="_blank" rel="follow">crypto scam</a> is also referred
to as a 'rug pull'.</p><p>Across the blockchain
space, BNB Chain reported the highest number of security violations totalling more than 100 with losses amounting to $71 million. Ethereum had 55
incidents that cost investors $66 million, while Polygon recorded
four cases and losses worth about $2.4 million.</p><blockquote><p lang="en" dir="ltr">COMING THIS WEEK, The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HACK3D?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HACK3D</a> Report: Q2 2023!In the report;⦿ $313 million drained from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/web3?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#web3</a> by malicious actors.⦿ SEC files charges against <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Binance?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Binance</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Coinbase?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Coinbase</a>.⦿ Recap of the 98 exit scams &amp; 54 flashloan/oracle manipulation exploits &amp; losses.+ much more! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CertiK?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CertiK</a> <a href="https://t.co/MhLDbSUlJ1">pic.twitter.com/MhLDbSUlJ1</a></p>— CertiK (@CertiK) <a href="https://twitter.com/CertiK/status/1675994242525589505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2023</a></blockquote><p>NFT Scams</p><p> In a separate
report by security firm PeckShield, the number of non-fungible tokens stolen in
June dropped by 23% to about $2 million. According to the report, half of the
stolen digital assets were sold in the NFT marketplaces in less than three
hours. The highest amount of the stolen NFTs were sold on Blur, at 86%, while
those disposed of on OpenSea were at 13%.</p><blockquote><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PeckShieldAlert?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PeckShieldAlert</a> In June 2023, ~$2.27M worth of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFTs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NFTs</a> were stolen, marking a 23% decrease compared to the previous month. Within a span of 160 minutes, half of the stolen NFTs were promptly sold on various marketplaces. The percentage of stolen NFTs initially sold on <a href="https://twitter.com/blur_io?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@blur_io</a>… <a href="https://t.co/0bhYs3CzTL">pic.twitter.com/0bhYs3CzTL</a></p>— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/1675705679196336128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2023</a></blockquote><p>Meanwhile, the UK's Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in a report released
last month noted that the number of financial scams, especially <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/fintech/uk-financial-ombudsman-reports-increase-in-hybrid-scams/" target="_blank" rel="follow">those
related to cryptocurrencies</a>,
was on the rise. The FOS said that there was a surge in what it termed as
'hybrid scams' involving more than one type of scam, <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/" target="_blank" rel="follow">Finance Magnates</a> reported.</p>

This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.