Here’s How Much Crypto Was Lost in May Due to Hacks: CertiK

According to blockchain security firm CertiK, the cryptocurrency sector lost $42.6 million in May to exploits, flash loans, and exit scams.

Despite these setbacks, approximately $96.2 million was recovered, offering some relief from the economic impact.

Flash Loan Attacks Dominate Blockchain Losses

Flash loan attacks caused the largest losses in the crypto sector, totaling approximately $20.7 million. Sonne Finance suffered the most, losing $20 million, followed by TLN Protocol, which lost $746,000. GPU and Saturn Token also faced losses totaling $32,394 and $8,343, respectively.

#CertiKStatsAlert 🚨

Combining all the incidents in May we’ve confirmed ~$42.6m lost to exploits, hacks and scams after $96.2m was returned.

The losses are ~$1m above April’s low of ~$41.6m.

Exit scams: ~$1.8m
Flash loans: ~$20.7m
Exploits: ~$19.7m

More details below pic.twitter.com/lc77OcrmcZ

— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) May 31, 2024

Exploits also significantly impacted the sector, accounting for approximately $19.7 million in losses. Gala Games suffered the most substantial loss at $21.6 million, followed by AlexLab at $4.3 million, Pump Fun at $1.9 million, GNUS.ai at $1.28 million, and Orion at $947,000.

While less common, exit scams still contributed around $1.8 million to the losses. Among these, Trees On Sol lost $1.11 million, Pii Park $490,000, Novamind $123,019, and Arbalest $91,520.

Interestingly, flash loan attacks have consistently led to significant losses in odd-numbered months throughout the year. January, March, and May saw losses of $15.3 million, $21.9 million, and $20.7 million, respectively. In contrast, losses in February and April were less than $150,000 each.

Meanwhile, February experienced the most severe loss overall due to exit scams, totaling $58.3 million, with less than 10% of this total recorded in other months.

Crypto Hacks and Rug Pulls Persist

In the year-to-date of 2024, security service provider Immunefi reports that over $473 million worth of cryptocurrency has been lost to hacks and rug pulls across 108 incidents.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) market remains the primary target for hackers, while centralized finance companies did not experience any attacks in 2024. Last year, over $2 billion was lost to hacks and exploits, about half the total from the previous year.

In May 2024, Ethereum and BNB Chain were the most targeted chains, collectively representing 62% of the total losses across targeted chains.

Crypto hacks and exploits are still a continuing problem. Just recently, due to a hack, DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, reported losing 48 billion yen ($305 million) of Bitcoin (BTC). In a blog post, DMM Bitcoin stated that 4,502.9 BTC “leaked” out of the exchange.