In August 2024, the crypto ecosystem saw its lowest monthly losses of the year. However, this development which can be quite encouraging for potential investors comes with an increase in year-to-date (YTD) losses which indicate that the nascent industry could see more losses due to bad actors in 2024 than the previous year.
August sees lowest cryptocurrency losses of 2024
According to blockchain security firm Immunefi, the digital asset sector recorded its lowest monthly losses of the year in August, with just $15.1 million due to hacks and fraud. This development indicates a significant 38% drop from August 2033, which saw losses of around $24.6 million, and a staggering 94.5% drop from the figures recorded in July 2024.
Interestingly, the $15.1 million was lost due to five hacks with no reported incidents of fraud. Additionally, Ethereum and BNB Chain were the most targeted networks in August, accounting for all of these losses.
Furthermore, Immuefi stated that the hacks all took place in the DeFi sector, but the majority of the losses came from a single large-scale incident, namely the Ronin Bridge exploit that resulted in the loss of $12 million. However, these funds were later returned as the “attack” was orchestrated by white hat hackers.
However, despite the low amount of crypto losses in August, Immunefi reports that overall year-to-date (YTD) losses in the crypto ecosystem have climbed to $1.21 billion across 154 incidents, indicating a 15.5% gain over losses recorded during the same period in 2023.
This broader trend suggests that the crypto industry is still plagued by significant levels of vulnerability, as crypto losses in 2024 could likely be higher than the numbers recorded in 2023. This notion indicates the need for stronger security developments to protect the integrity of the crypto industry.
Cryptocurrency Market Overview
According to data from Coingecko, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing a notable slowdown, with the total market cap currently valued at $2.18 trillion, reflecting a slight decline of 0.19% over the past day. This is a significant drop from $2.48 trillion a month ago.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues to dominate the market with a capitalization of $1.17 trillion, accounting for 53.74% of the total market share. However, the cryptocurrency market leader lost over 10% of its value in August. Other major assets saw similar declines; Ethereum fell by 21.9%, Binance Coin (BNB) dropped by 7.3%, and Solana declined by 20.0%. However, the stablecoin market received more traction during this period with a total market capitalization increase of 3.69% to a value of $169.85 billion.
Featured image from Simplilearn, chart from Tradingview
