Crypto Hacks Surge 40% in 2024 To $2.3 Billion, Driven by Centralized Exchange Breaches
Cryptocurrency hackers stole $2.3 billion from the Web3 ecosystem in 2024, marking a 40% increase from the previous year. Crypto hacks were driven by a rise in access control breaches, mostly in centralized exchanges (CEXs) and crypto custodians, according to on-chain security company Cyvers. Cryptocurrency hackers exceeded the previous year’s milestones, stealing loot from decentralized systems across 165 incidents. The rise in crypto hacks coincided with the increase in the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. On December 6, Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time. Deddy Lavid, co-founder and CEO of Cyvers, explained that the surge in hacker attacks was possible due to growing access control vulnerabilities at centralized exchanges and cryptocurrency custodians: “These incidents were often facilitated by compromised private keys and weak key management systems, exemplified by high-profile hacks such as multi-signature wallets,” Lavid said for...