While 2023 seems to have been spared the cryptocurrency hacks of previous years, September ended on a rather disastrous note. What can we take away from all this so far?
September: the worst month of 2023 for hacks
As a result of the attack on the Mixin Network protocol, September has become the worst month of 2023. As we’ve explained many times in the past, big one-off attacks can put a strain on a trend, and that’s what happened here when the current year seemed relatively quiet.
According to the latest infographic from blockchain security company CertiK, September closes with over $332 million in losses, the vast majority resulting from hacks:
Combining all the incidents in September we’ve confirmed ~$332M lost to exploits, hacks and scams.
Exit scams were ~$1.9M
Flash loans were ~$0.4M
Exploits were ~$329.8M
See more details below pic.twitter.com/DMFN9LWU8V
– CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) September 30, 2023
As a result, September’s poor performance sees July relegated to second place with $285.8 million, made up largely of the $126 million stolen from Multichain bridge.
Note, however, that in the above chart, CertiK does not include the $197 million stolen in March from the Euler Finance protocol, before it was subsequently returned. Indeed, the company accounts for this attack in another chart dealing with flash loan attacks.
How would you sum up the current year?
All categories combined, losses for the year to date stand at almost $1.34 billion, with September accounting for 25.8% of this figure.
Although these values are very significant, they are still, for the time being, below what we’ve seen in 2022 and 2021. In fact, DefiLlama’s history allows us to judge a few particularly catastrophic months in previous years:
- November 2022: $512.85 million;
- October 2022: $732.8 million;
- March 2022: $692.81 million;
- December 2021: $506.95 million;
- August 2021: $675.85 million.
So, although 2023 has seen some inglorious months, the damage is nonetheless measured in comparison with what may have happened in the past, although this is not to underestimate these risks. Let’s not forget the importance of North Korea in these various attacks, with the Lazarus group often identified as the author of many well-known hacks.
