Phishing attacks drove most losses, continuing a steady rise in monthly crypto incidents.\n<\/p>\n
Crypto hacks continued their upward trend in August, with approximately $173.2 million in total lost across exploits, up over 13% from July, according to security analytics firm CertiK. <\/p>\n
Phishing attacks<\/a> alone accounted for roughly $101 million of the total, CertiK revealed<\/a> earlier this week on X, formerly Twitter. A phishing attack refers to a type of social engineering scam when attackers impersonate trusted entities \u2014 often with disguised links or fake websites \u2014 to trick victims into revealing sensitive information, such as login credentials, credit card numbers, or other personal data.<\/p>\n The largest incidents in August included a $91 million phishing scam and the $53 million BTC Turk<\/a> exploit, which together represented around $144 million of the month\u2019s total losses. By comparison, the month of July saw $153 million lost to hacks, while June\u2019s total was around $111 million, showing a steady growth in monthly crypto thefts this summer. <\/p>\n These figures reflect a concerning trend for the digital asset community, as attackers increasingly target both exchanges and individual users. The data suggests that while security measures have grown more sophisticated in some areas, basic attacks like phishing remain a threat.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year alone, blockchain-based finance is on track to lose $4.5\u20135 billion to hacks, about 4% of all [digital] assets, and that\u2019s before trillions in traditional assets start moving on-chain,\u201d Mitchell Amador, CEO of Immunefi, told The Defiant in an email. \u201cSocial engineering in crypto is the most lucrative place in the history of mankind to do this kind of work.\u201d <\/p>\n Amador explained that this is the case because of large, organized groups running what he called \u201ccriminal tech startups,\u201d whose only goal is to steal money. <\/p>\n According to a separate report<\/a> by CertiK from June 30, a total of $2.47 billion was lost across 344 incidents in the first half of the year (H1). Wallet compromises accounted for the most losses, totalling roughly $1.71 billion across 34 incidents, while phishing was the most frequent, responsible for $410.7 million over 132 attacks.<\/p>\nH1 Findings<\/h2>\n