A report from Immunfi, a blockchain security firm, reveals that a total of $15.8 million worth of cryptocurrencies was compromised by hacks and exploits during August. This marks a significant drop from the previous month’s losses of $320.5 million in July. The attacks exclusively targeted decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, with no impact on centralized finance entities.
Out of the 21 security incidents documented, five occurred on the Ethereum blockchain and four on the BNB chain. Coinbase’s newly launched layer-2 solution, Base, experienced four security breaches shortly after its August 9th launch.
Among the notable incidents, the Exactly protocol hack on August 18th resulted in the theft of 4,323.6 ethereum (equivalent to $7.2 million) from users’ deposits through a malicious deposit contract. On August 25th, Magnate Finance, a borrowing and lending protocol on Base, allegedly orchestrated a $6.5 million exit scam. DeFi investigator Zachxbt indicated that the scam was linked to the Magnate Finance deployer address. The protocol’s assets have been removed from its smart contract, and both its website and social media accounts are offline.
Immunefi reports that year-to-date losses due to hacks and fraudulent activities amount to $1.25 billion. Notably, in March, Euler Finance, a DeFi protocol, lost $195 million in a malicious flash loan attack. The hacker returned over 90% of the assets to users shortly afterward, prompted by the threat of legal action from developers.
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