July proved to be a tumultuous month for the cryptocurrency industry, with a staggering $266 million lost to hackers across 16 separate attacks. The most significant blow was dealt to Indian crypto exchange WazirX, which suffered a massive hack on July 18th, resulting in losses exceeding $230 million. This single incident accounted for a staggering 86.4% of the total crypto funds stolen during the month.
Independent investigations have linked the WazirX hack to North Korean hacking groups, whose modus operandi and techniques match the attack patterns observed. The stolen funds, amounting to a substantial 61,154 Ether, remain under the hackers’ control as of August 1st.
WazirX was not the sole victim in July. Other prominent crypto platforms affected include Compound Finance, which lost $24 million, bridging protocol Li. Fi, which suffered a $10 million loss, and decentralized AI protocol Bittensor and liquidity provider Rho Markets, both incurring losses of $8 million each.
A common tactic employed by these hackers involves funneling the stolen funds through crypto mixers like Tornado Cash to obscure their trail and evade detection. This trend underscores the urgent need for robust security measures and innovative anti-money laundering tools within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
In contrast to the previous month, June witnessed comparatively lower losses of $176 million spread across approximately 20 hacking incidents. The significant surge in attacks and the substantial amount of stolen funds in July highlight the growing challenges faced by the crypto industry in safeguarding digital assets.
