Assessing the Damage: A Slow Quarter for Hackers
In the wild world of cryptocurrency, the hackers were much less active in the first quarter of 2023 compared to last year. According to a quarterly report by CertiK, a blockchain security firm, hackers managed to snatch over $320 million. While that might seem like a jaw-dropping amount, it’s actually a significant drop from the near $1.3 billion losses in Q1 2022 and $950 million in Q4 2022. Go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief—a little winning streak for the good guys, maybe?
What’s Behind the Numbers?
So, what caused this dip in hacking mayhem? CertiK suggests that various off-chain events have left their mark on the crypto ecosystem. One could argue that the debacle of Silvergate Bank, coupled with the USD Coin’s depegging during the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco, managed to make hackers think twice. It’s amazing what a little instability in traditional finance can do!
The Anatomy of Q1 Hacks
The funds saw quite the adventurous allocation of losses. Out of the sum pilfered this quarter, a whopping $31 million vanished due to 90 blatant exit scams. Meanwhile, the real heavyweights of crime, flash loan and oracle manipulation exploits, claimed over $222 million. BNB Chain emerged as the most incident-prone blockchain, recording 139 cases, while Ethereum lost the most dollars at $221 million despite having fewer incidents. Now, if only those hackers directed their energy into something more productive—like starting a band!
Eulogy for Euler Finance’s Woes
The first quarter was challenging, with a steep loss attributed to the Euler Finance hack. A flash loan exploit on March 13 resulted in losses exceeding $195 million, contributing to a staggering 60% of Q1’s total thefts. However, here comes the twist: negotiations with the hacker paid off! Euler Finance announced they managed to recover about 90% of their funds after some back-and-forth chat. Cue the next heist movie plot twist!
The New Normal: Recovery Teams?
In a surprising turn of events, the space has witnessed a growing trend of recovery post-hack. Following Euler’s lead, the lending protocol Sentiment recovered $870,000 after offering a $95,000 bounty. Maybe next time, hackers could be persuaded to start a Telegram group instead—everyone benefits, right?
