In August 2024, the crypto ecosystem recorded its lowest monthly losses of the year. However, this development, which may be quite encouraging for potential investors, comes alongside increasing year-to-date (YTD) losses, indicating that the nascent industry may see more losses to malicious actors in 2024 than it did in the previous year.
August sees lowest crypto losses for 2024
According to blockchain security company ImmunefiThe digital asset industry recorded its lowest monthly losses of the year in August with just $15.1 million in hacks and fraud. This development marks a significant 38% drop from August 2033, which saw losses of around $24.6 million and a staggering 94.5% drop from the figures recorded in July 2024.
Interestingly, all $15.1 million was lost to five hacks with no reported fraud incidents. Furthermore, 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 took place in the DeFi space, but most of the losses stemmed from a single high-profile incident, namely the Ronin bridge exploit that resulted in the loss of $12 million. However, these funds were later returned because the “attack” was orchestrated by white hat hackers.
Despite the low amount of crypto losses in August, Immunefi reports that total losses in the crypto ecosystem have reached $1.21 billion this year (YTD), spread across 154 incidents. This is a gain of 15.5% compared to the losses recorded during the same period in 2023.
This broader trend suggests that the crypto industry continues to be plagued by significant levels of vulnerability, as crypto losses in 2024 are likely to exceed the numbers recorded in 2023. This idea signals the need to bolster security developments to protect the integrity of the crypto industry.
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% over the past 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 more than 10% of its value in August. Other major assets have seen similar declines; Ethereum dropped by 21.9%, Binance Coin (BNB) dropped by 7.3%, and Solana dropped by 20.0%. However, the stablecoin market has gained more traction during this period with the total market cap increasing by 3.69% to a value of $169.85 billion.
Main image from Simplilearn, chart from Tradingview