Reserve

Token

DeFi

The majority of hacked cryptocurrencies are unable to recover from the exploit in terms of pricing, according to the latest onchain security report.
Over 77.8% of hacked cryptocurrencies suffered sustained negative price impact six months after the hack.
Moreover, 51.1% of hacked tokens saw over 50% price declines six months after the protocol was hacked, according to an Immunefi report shared with Cointelegraph.
However, hacked protocols sustain most of the damage after the hack, according to Mitchell Amador, the founder and CEO of Immunefi. He told Cointelegraph:
<blockquote>
 “The millions lost to the hack immediately anticipate even larger losses, caused by market impact and dependency impact, alongside many months of lost time spent rebuilding your emotionally shattered team and operations.”
</blockquote>
<figure><img alt="Nearly 80% of hacked cryptocurrencies never recover in price — Immunefi" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/Screenshot%202024-08-21%20180228">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Media token price declines after hack. Source: Immunefi
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The report comes nearly a month after a hacker stole over <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/indian-crypto-exchange-wazirx-hack-235m" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null">$230 million from WazirX</a>, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, in the second-largest cryptocurrency hack of 2024 so far.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/top-100-de-fi-hacks-offchain-attack-vectors-account-for-57-of-losses" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null">Top 100 DeFi Hacks: Offchain attack vectors account for 57% of losses</a>
<h2 id="cefi-remains-the-biggest-vulnerability-for-hackers">CeFi remains the biggest vulnerability for hackers</h2>
<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/defi-a-comprehensive-guide-to-decentralized-finance" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null">Decentralized finance (DeFi)</a> applications used to account for most of the digital asset exploits in the past.
However, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/defi-vs-cefi-comparing-decentralized-to-centralized-finance" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null">centralized finance (CeFi)</a> infrastructure has become the biggest vulnerability for the crypto space, accounting for most of the losses in 2024, according to Amador, who said:
<blockquote>
 “Infrastructure compromises tend to be the most devastating hacks in the cryptocurrency world. For example, a leaked private key will lead to the theft of all funds controlled by it.”
</blockquote>
From the $1.19 billion worth of digital assets stolen to date in 2024, $636 million is attributed to CeFi vulnerabilities. 
<figure><img alt="Nearly 80% of hacked cryptocurrencies never recover in price — Immunefi" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/Screenshot%202024-08-21%20180301">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Median token price declines six months after hack. Source: Immunefi
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Hackers are increasingly targeting CeFi infrastructure like crypto exchanges due to the large amount of funds that could potentially result in hundreds of millions in stolen bounty, explained Amador.
Immunefi is a prominent onchain crowdsourced cybersecurity platform, safeguarding over $190 billion in user funds.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/polychain-invests-bitcoin-defi-corn-network" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null">Polychain leads $6.7M investment in new Bitcoin-centric yield network Corn</a>
<h3 id="established-crypto-projects-suffer-less-damage-post-hack">Established crypto projects suffer less damage post-hack</h3>
Some cryptocurrencies fare better after an exploit.
<figure><img alt="Nearly 80% of hacked cryptocurrencies never recover in price — Immunefi" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/Screenshot%202024-08-21%20180404">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Token price declines, major exploits. Source: Immunefi
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Tokens with a more established team that belong to larger projects historically are more resilient to exploits, according to Amador:
<blockquote>
 “Recovered tokens include projects like BNB Chain, SushiSwap, THORChain, Olympus, and Optimism. All of these projects are either huge ecosystems themselves, such as BNB Chain or Optimism, or are longstanding protocols like SushiSwap, which have a dedicated community.”
</blockquote>
This is mainly due to larger ecosystems behind these tokens that exert more buying power after a black swan event, explained Amador.&nbsp;
Crypto hacks remain among the biggest hurdles of mass cryptocurrency adoption since the amount of stolen funds in 2024 could surpass the previous year.
By Feb. 29, over <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/hacked-funds-2024-increased-compared-last-year" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null">$200 million had been lost </a>to hacks year-to-date, reflecting a more than 15% increase compared to the same period in 2023, when $173 million worth of digital assets were stolen.
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/bitfinex-hacker-bitcoin-2024-senator-lummis-bitcoin-strategic-reserve-bill-cointelegraph-magazine/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null">Criminal at Bitcoin 2024, BTC Strategic Reserve Bill, and more: Hodler’s Digest, July 28–Aug. 3</a>

Nearly 80% of hacked cryptocurrencies never recover in price — Immunefi

Table of Contents

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Aug 22, 2024

Top Crypto Presale Websites – MoonBag’s Sky-High Rewards Shine as Slothana’s Sustainability and B...

Sonic Labs Partners with Silo Labs to Boost Ecosystem Security and Innovation

DOGS Crypto Trades $4M As Bitcoin Dogs Eyes Listing Day Pump

BREAKING: Coinbase Announces 3 Surprise Altcoins to List on Futures

Binance to Allocate 20% of New Hires to Compliance Amid Global Regulatory Push

Will Ethereum Overcome Market Struggles and Break $3000?

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!