Chainalysis Reports Shift in Cybercriminal Focus from DeFi to Centralized Exchanges

In the first half of the year, cybercriminals stole nearly $1.6 billion in cryptocurrencies, increasingly targeting centralized exchanges (CEX), according to Chainalysis.

? Part 1 of our mid-year #cryptocrime update is here! ? Illicit on-chain activity dropped by nearly 20% YTD, but stolen fund activity is surging and ransomware payments are breaking records. Read our blog for a detailed analysis. https://t.co/WRGG91mpFP

— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) August 15, 2024

This figure nearly doubled compared to the same period in 2023, which was $857 million.

The average loss per incident increased by almost 80%.

The trend is largely attributed to the rising price of Bitcoin, which accounted for 40% of the total volume of theft-related transactions, experts noted. Last year, this figure was 30%.

“Cryptocurrency thieves also seem to be returning to their roots, focusing more on centralized exchanges rather than prioritizing DeFi protocols. The latter are less popular means for trading BTC,” they emphasized.

The largest incident was the hack of the Japanese platform DMM Bitcoin for $305 million (19% of the total damage since the beginning of the year), which lost about 4500 BTC.

Attacks on DeFi services, particularly cross-chain bridges, peaked in 2022 amid increased security measures by CEX, analysts noted.

Recently, however, criminals, including those from North Korea, have been using “increasingly sophisticated social engineering tactics,” such as applying for IT job vacancies. This allows them to infiltrate structures to carry out thefts. According to the UN, Western tech companies have thus hired over 4000 North Korean specialists.

Another trend in 2024, according to Chainalysis experts, is the rise in payments to ransomware operators.

In total, the amount reached $459.8 million over six months, slightly more than $449.1 million a year earlier. However, the size of losses from attacks has sharply increased, analysts noted.

In July, they recorded a $75 million payment by a victim to the Dark Angels group.

Experts predict that the year could set a record for losses from this type of cybercrime.

Earlier, Cyvers also noted the shift in focus of criminals to the CeFi segment, which accounted for 70% of industry losses from hacker attacks in the first half of the year.

Analysts at Halborn warned that despite the reduction in losses for DeFi projects, cybercriminals remain a serious threat to the sector.