More than $300 million in digital assets were lost to crypto hacks and exploits in the second quarter of 2023, according to on-chain data compiled in the quarterly report by the blockchain security company CertiK.
In the report, CertiK showed that there were a total of 212 security incidents in the quarter. The firm noted that across the incidents, malicious actors drained a total of $313,566,528 from Web3 protocols. Compared to the second quarter of 2022, when hacks and exploits took $745 million, the security firm pointed out that there was a 58% decline in the amount lost.
Despite the lower total amount recorded compared to 2022, the quarter saw an increase in the value lost to exit scams, which amounted to around $70 million in the second quarter of 2023. This is almost double the losses from similar scams in the first quarter, which was around $31 million.
Meanwhile, losses from flash loans and oracle manipulation exploits saw a drastic decrease in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2023. In the first quarter, there were a total of 52 oracle manipulation attacks leading to losses of around $222 million, with the infamous Euler Finance hack contributing 85% to the losses.
In the second quarter, there were a total of 54 flash loan and oracle manipulation attacks, which led to losses of around $23 million, an 89% decline compared to the first quarter.
Related: Poly Network urges users to withdraw after exploit affects 57 crypto assets
Apart from this, CertiK also highlighted that out of all the blockchains the firm analyzed, BNB Chain recorded the most incidents, with 119 incidents leading to $70,711,385 in losses. Ethereum came in second place, with 55 incidents netting hackers $65,999,953.
Meanwhile, a report from PeckShield showed that half of stolen nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are being sold within three hours of being stolen by malicious actors — indicating that hackers are quick to offload their ill-gotten gains after performing NFT theft.
Magazine: Should crypto projects ever negotiate with hackers? Probably
