The amount of cryptocurrency stolen in hacks globally more than doubled in the first six months of 2024 from a year earlier, driven by a small number of large attacks and rising crypto prices, blockchain researchers TRM Labs said on Friday.
Hackers had stolen more than $1.38bn (R25.1bn) worth of crypto by June 24 this year, compared with $657m in the same period in 2023, TRM Labs said.
The median theft was one-and-a-half times larger than the year before, the report said.
“While we have not seen any fundamental changes in the security of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, we have seen a significant increase in the value of various tokens — from bitcoin to ETH [ether] and solana — compared to the same time last year,” said Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs.
This means that cybercriminals are more motivated to attack crypto services and can steal more when they do, Redbord said.
While we have not seen any fundamental changes in the security of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, we have seen a significant increase in the value of various tokens … compared to the same time last year
— Ari Redbord, TRM Labs
Crypto prices have generally recovered from the lows hit in late 2022 in the aftermath of the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange, FTX. Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $73,803.25 in March this year.
Among the largest crypto losses so far this year was the roughly $308m worth of bitcoin stolen from Japanese crypto exchange DMM bitcoin, in what the company called an “unauthorised leak”.
Cryptocurrency companies are frequent targets for hacks and cyberattacks, though losses on this scale are rare.
Stolen cryptocurrency volumes in 2022 were about $900m, Redbord said, partly owing to the more than $600m stolen from a blockchain network linked to the online game Axie Infinity. The US has linked North Korean hackers to that theft.
The UN has accused North Korea of using cyberattacks to help fund its nuclear and missile programmes. North Korea has previously denied allegations of hacking and other cyberattacks.
Meanwhile, in South Africa the National Treasury is putting the final touches to a bill that will regulate how consumers and the financial system deal with trading in cryptocurrencies and similar assets, but without stifling innovation.
The Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill will allow regulators to license new categories of financial services that the existing regulatory framework might not have made provision for.
The bill seeks to establish a framework for new financial products and services, along with a code of conduct for people trading in newer asset classes such as crypto assets.
It requires traders to clearly explain to their clients the terms, fees and risks associated with the asset classes they trade.
• Additional reporting by Khulekani Magubane
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