Q1 2023 crypto hacks, vulnerabilities cost this much

In the Q1 of 2023 alone, hackers were able to acquire access to more than $320 million, according to on-chain data compiled by blockchain security firm CertiK.

Significantly less was lost than in the first and fourth quarters of 2022, when hackers stole approximately $1.3 billion and $950 million, respectively. According to CertiK, the low amount of losses may be attributable to off-chain events that affected the crypto industry as a whole, such as the problems with Silvergate Bank and the de-pegging of USD Coin during the height of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.

Over $31 million was lost to 90 exit schemes, and over $222 million was lost to 52 flash loans and Oracle manipulation exploits during the quarter. Regarding the number of incidents and the sum lost per blockchain, CertiK noted that BNB Chain had 139 incidents, the highest number for the quarter.

Despite fewer incidents, Ethereum suffered $221 million in losses in Q1 2023, the most of any cryptocurrency.

Despite being significantly lower than Q1 2022 and Q4 2022, the first quarter of 2023 was still marked by hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, with the recent Euler Finance breach accounting for sixty percent. The protocol was compromised by a flash loan exploit on March 13, resulting in over $195 million in losses.

A substantial portion of the hacking-related loss was recovered through negotiations with the hackers, despite the apparent magnitude of the loss. After nearly a month of back-and-forth negotiations with the perpetrator, Euler Finance announced on April 4 that it had recouped approximately 90% of the stolen funds.

This trend has been observed more frequently in space as other hackers have followed Euler’s example. On April 6, through the lending protocol, Sentiment recovered approximately $870,000 after offering a reward of $95,000 to those accountable for stealing nearly $1 million from the platform.