A recent research report by blockchain security company Immunefi revealed that the cryptocurrency industry experienced a significant decrease of 23% in losses from hacking and scams in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year. The report, released on March 28, stated that the total amount lost to hacking and fraud in Q1 of 2024 was approximately $336.3 million, down from $437.5 million in the same quarter of 2023.
The report identified 46 hacking incidents and 15 cases of fraudulent activities. 
Immunefi found that decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, which have nearly $100 billion locked in Web3 protocols, remained a primary target for hackers. In fact, all of the exploits identified by Immunefi in Q1 were on DeFi platforms, while centralized finance platforms had zero incidents.
Two projects accounted for the majority of the losses, totaling $144.5 million, or 43% of the overall amount. The largest attack, which amounted to $81.7 million, targeted the cross-chain bridge protocol Orbit Bridge on New Year’s Eve. The month of January saw the highest losses, totaling $133 million.
Mitchell Amador, CEO of Immunefi, highlighted the vulnerability of DeFi platforms to private key breaches, emphasizing the urgent need for improved security measures across code and protocol infrastructure.
In another notable attack, a $62 million exploit occurred on the nonfungible token game Munchables. However, the funds were recovered within 24 hours as the hacker surrendered the private keys to the wallet containing Munchables’ assets.
Overall, $73.9 million (22%) of the stolen funds from seven exploits in Q1 were retrieved. The number of attacks decreased by 17.6% from 74 in Q1 2023 to 61 in 2024.
Hacks accounted for 95.6% ($321.6 million) of the losses across 46 incidents, while fraud, scams, and rug pulls accounted for 4.4% ($14.7 million) in 15 incidents. Ethereum was the most targeted blockchain, followed by the BNB Chain, with both networks accounting for 73% of the total losses combined.
Ethereum experienced the highest number of attacks, with 33 incidents, representing 51% of the losses. The BNB Chain had 12 attacks, accounting for 22% of the exploited funds. Other incidents were identified on Arbitrum, Solana, Optimism, Bitcoin, Blast, Polygon, Conflux Network, and Base.
In response to the increasing number of crypto hacks, a team of white hat hackers called “SEAL 911” has been formed to combat these attacks in real-time.