The crypto market closed in March with roughly 30 hacking incidents recording $187.29 million of stolen assets. The apparent convincing efforts of the community members yielded a substantial number of investors who returned a large portion of the funds worth $98.8 million that had been stolen. Thus, via the progression rate of 52.8%, there is a sly chance of making some motion toward the problem. This aspect is a drop of water in the ocean of obstacles malicious actors pose.
Overview of March hacking incidents
PeckShield discussed the monthly top five events, with the Munchables hack being the most detrimental scheme regarding assets. Encryption cracks in Curio, Prisma Finance hack, NFPrompt cracking, and WOOFi exploit made to the top 5 recent blockchain hacks as part of the top 5 blockchain hacks for 2023.
The bulk of the obtained funds were dumped in Munchables’ affair, a videogame on the Blast chain that features non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The hackers first communicated with the company, and an initial estimation totaled the value of the lost currency at $62 million.
However, there were no ransom demands from the hackers after the negotiations. Analogically, the Prisma Finance case involves around 11 million dollars of notional loss due to the appropriation of digital assets, and there is potential for recovery. When the protocol and the criminal negotiate continuity, it is possible.
Quarterly insights: Trends and analysis
Switching to the wider angle nuances of the whole picture, the losses of about $336.3 million recorded in fraudulent activities and hacking in the first quarter of 2024 appear slightly lower than the losses reported the previous year. Moreover, the two projects faced troublesome hacks and fell into financial losses. The cross-chain protocol Orbit Bridge was attacked on the 2nd Eve of the New Year, which lost $81.7 million.
Ethereum ranks first in the number of attacks, with 25 incidents representing 67% of the total lost. The third most frequent among the twenty-five attacks is that of BNB Chain, comprising 12 attacks that accounted for 22% of the loss. This evidence, therefore, portrays how essential we need to be to intensify such systems’ security enhancement and prevent further problems.
On the other hand, the crypto world is still facing obstacles related to cybersecurity, but the movement of recovering millions of dollars (100 million) stolen during March is quite encouraging. However, it simultaneously indicates the importance of the well-working security protocols and the proactive initiatives required to protect digital assets against attackers.
As all the stakeholders of this industry do their best to ensure the security and sustainability of the emerging cryptocurrency landscape, the likely immediate role of all the players would be the enhancement and minimization of risks, which will be crucial for a more secure and resilient crypto ecosystem.
