According to cybersecurity firm Certik, nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency has been pilfered due to scams, rug pulls, and exploits throughout 2023. The company highlighted that the combined incidents in August alone led to a loss of $45.8 million.
Certik Analysis: Cryptocurrency Losses Near $1 Billion
The digital security and smart contract auditing firm Certik disclosed that $45.8 million was purloined last month from various exploits, hacks, and deceptions. The PEPE token exit scam took the lead in August with a staggering $13.2 million, followed closely by the Exactly Protocol incident at $7.3 million.
Certik pointed out that exit scams led to $26 million in losses, flash loans were responsible for $6.4 million, and general exploits amounted to $13.5 million in August. Additionally, Certik’s analysis states that almost $1 billion, or approximately $997,345,346 was misappropriated in 2023 via scams, exploits, rug pulls, and flash loans. July emerged as the year’s leader thus far in terms of the amount pilfered through exploits during 2023.
Exit scams’ peak month was May, but August came dangerously close with the recent PEPE incident. Regarding flash loan attacks, there’s been a modest number all year; however, a significant spike occurred in March when more than $200 million was snatched that month through flash loan attacks. In total, flash loan attacks accounted for $261 million this year.
Exploits reached a total of $596 million in 2023, with $137 million linked to exit scams as per Certik’s findings. Although PEPE was August’s most colossal exit scam, the Zunami Protocol attack emerged as the largest flash loan issue during that month. Meanwhile, the Exactly Protocol incident turned out to be August’s most significant exploit.
What do you think about Certik’s report on the crypto scam, hack, and exploit incidents in 2023? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.