A Sharp Spike in Crypto Exploits Hits a New High

November has become a red-letter month for the Web3 space, with a surge in crypto hacks resulting in losses totaling nearly $350 million across 28 incidents, reveals blockchain security firm Peckshield.

This marks the second-highest monthly total for such occurrences this year, trailing only September's $356 million but showcasing a tenfold increase from October's $32.47 million.

However, in a separate report, Certik underscores the alarming trend of scams and exploits in 2023, where crypto criminals made away with a staggering $363 million in November alone. 

Exploits accounted for around $316.4 million, while flash loans inflicted damage amounting to $45.5 million. Additionally, various exit scams led to losses of $1.1 million, as revealed in CertiK's Nov. 30 post on X (formerly Twitter).

‍

Justin Sun-Linked Platforms Bear the Brunt

A striking revelation emerges as the majority of the losses, approximately 70%, are linked to platforms associated with HTC founder Justin Sun. 

Worth noting, on Nov. 10, Poloniex, a crypto exchange acquired by Justin Sun in 2019, fell victim to a $131 million hack. The attacker utilized the stolen funds to artificially inflate the value of the Tron blockchain's native TRX token.

Shortly after, HTX and Heco Bridge, also linked to Justin Sun, experienced a hack resulting in losses exceeding $113 million, according to Certik.

‍

Setting a New Record Amidst Security Concerns

Simultaneously, the KyberSwap attack accounted for the majority of damages in flash loan attacks during the month, totaling $45 million.

The total losses in November surpassed the previous record set in September, mainly attributed to the $200 million Mixin Network attack. As of the end of November, the cumulative losses due to exploits, exit scams, and flash loan attacks in 2023 reached approximately $1.7 billion. 

While alarming, this figure accounts for only 54% of the crypto drained in 2022, where losses amounted to $3.7 billion. In 2021, the reported losses were $1.7 billion, according to CertiK's data.