In August 2024, the crypto ecosystem has experienced its least monthly losses of the year. However, this development which can be quite encouraging for potential investors is accompanied by increasing year-to-date (YTD) losses which indicate the nascent industry may record more losses to bad actors in 2024 than in the previous year.
Related Reading: Rising Prices, Rising Risks: Crypto Hacks Skyrocket To $1.6 Billion, Report
August Sees Lowest Crypto Losses For 2024
According to blockchain security firm Immunefi, the digital asset industry recorded in August its lowest monthly losses of the year with only $15.1 million to hacks and fraud. This development indicates a significant 38% decrease from August 2033 which experienced losses of about $24.6 million and a stunning 94.5% drop from the figures recorded in July 2024.
Interestingly, all $15.1 million were lost to five hacks with no fraud incident reported. In addition, Ethereum and BNB Chain were the most targeted networks in August, accounting for the entirety of these losses.
Furthermore, Immuefi reported that the hacks all occurred in the DeFi space but with the majority of losses emanating from a single high-profile incident, namely the Ronin bridge exploit that resulted in the loss of $12 million. Albeit, these funds were later returned as the “ attack” was orchestrated by white hat hackers.
However, despite the low amount of crypto losses in August, Immunefi reports that the overall year-to-date (YTD) losses in the crypto ecosystem have surged to $1.21 billion across 154 incidents, indicating a 15.5% gain in comparison to the losses recorded in the same period in 2023.
This broader trend suggests the crypto industry is still plagued by significant levels of vulnerability, as the crypto losses in 2024 may likely finish higher than the figures recorded in 2023. This notion indicates the need for reinforcing security developments to protect the integrity of the crypto industry.
Related Reading: Bitcoin (BTC) Stumbles Below $60,000 As Data Shows Slowing Net Capital Inflows
Crypto Market Overview
According to data from Coingecko, the crypto market is experiencing a notable downturn, with the total market cap currently valued at $2.18 trillion, reflecting a slight decline of 0.19% in the last day. This represents a significant drop from $2.48 trillion a month ago.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues to dominate the market with a capitalization of $1.17 trillion, accounting for 53.74% of the total market share. However, the crypto market leader has lost over 10% of its value in August. Other major assets have faced similar declines; Ethereum dropped by 21.9%, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 7.3%, and Solana decreased by 20.0%. Albeit, the stablecoin market has received more traction in this period with an increase in total market cap by 3.69% to a value of $169.85 billion.
Featured image from Simplilearn, chart from Tradingview