May 2024: Crypto Hacks Result in $385 Million Losses

In May, cybercriminals struck the crypto community hard, orchestrating numerous hacking incidents that resulted in substantial losses.

According to a report by blockchain security firm Peckshield, the total amount stolen in May 2024 reached a staggering $385 million, making it the most financially damaging month of the year so far.

#PeckShieldAlert May 2024 witnessed ~30 hacks in the crypto space, resulting in ~$574.6 million in losses, w/ ~$385 million in hackers’ profits. This marks an increase of about 666% from April 2024.#Top5 Hacks:
–#DMMBitcoin: $305 million
–#GALAGames: $212 million (hackers’… pic.twitter.com/2n5YUaw3OQ

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) June 1, 2024

Peckshield’s findings revealed that over 30 hacking incidents occurred throughout May, with one of the most notable attacks targeting the Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin on May 31st. In this single breach, hackers managed to pilfer over 4,500 Bitcoin, equivalent to a whopping $305 million. This heist not only marked the largest single hack of 2024 but also ranked as the second-largest crypto hack in Japan’s history, trailing only behind the infamous $533 million Coincheck hack of 2018.

Another significant breach occurred within the crypto gaming sector when Gala Games suffered a major network breach on May 20th. During this attack, hackers were able to create and mint a staggering 5 billion GALA tokens, valued at approximately $212 million. Despite the severity of the breach, Gala Games swiftly implemented security measures that mitigated the financial impact, reducing the overall losses to approximately $22.4 million.

Additionally, DeFi protocol Sonne Finance and a Coinbase account were targeted in separate hacking incidents, resulting in losses of $20 million and $18 million, respectively. In total, cybercriminals managed to steal $575 million worth of assets throughout May. However, due to the swift actions of affected platforms and entities, particularly Gala Games, the net profit for hackers was ultimately reduced to $385 million.

Comparing these figures to the previous month, April saw losses totaling $60 million, making May’s losses a shocking 666% increase. Furthermore, the total amount lost in May 2024 represents a staggering 2,300% surge compared to the same period in 2023.

Author

Alexander Stefanov

Reporter at CoinsPress

Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coinspress and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.