Crypto Hacks Surge 40% in 2024 To $2.3 Billion, Driven by Centralized Exchange Breaches

Cryptocurrency hackers stole $2.3 billion from the Web3 ecosystem in 2024, marking a 40% increase from the previous year.

Crypto hacks were driven by a rise in access control breaches, mostly in centralized exchanges (CEXs) and crypto custodians, according to on-chain security company Cyvers.

Cryptocurrency hackers exceeded the previous year’s milestones, stealing loot from decentralized systems across 165 incidents .

The rise in crypto hacks coincided with the increase in the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. On December 6, Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time.

Deddy Lavid, co-founder and CEO of Cyvers, explained that the surge in hacker attacks was possible due to growing access control vulnerabilities at centralized exchanges and cryptocurrency custodians:

“These incidents were often facilitated by compromised private keys and weak key management systems, exemplified by high-profile hacks such as multi-signature wallets,” Lavid said for Cointelegraph.

Nonetheless, the $2.36 billion stolen in 2024 was still 37% lower than the record of $3.78 billion stolen in 2022.

Crypto Hacks Driven by Access Control Breaches Resulted in $1.9 Billion Lost

Access control vulnerabilities accounted for $1.9 billion worth of value stolen in 2024. This represents over 81% of the total amount lost to crypto hacks across 67 cybersecurity incidents.

To prevent another year of multi-billion dollar hacks, better security measures should be adopted, including private key management with offline storage and real-time threat monitoring systems, Lavid said. To enter 2025 with a reduced number of cyber attacks, Lavid recommends the following:

“By prioritizing education, collaboration, and security innovation, we can significantly reduce these vulnerabilities and foster a safer Web3 ecosystem.”

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