Crypto fraud, exploits decline 71% year-on-year as $370 million lost since January

The cryptosphere lost $372 million to fraud and exploits in the first quarter of 2023, according to a recent report from the creators of Rekt Database, De.Fi (formerly DeFiYieldApp.)

According to the report, Euler Finance, BonqDAO and CoinDeal suffered the three biggest losses with $196 million, $120 million and $45 million respectively.

Q1 loss

The amount lost to fraud and exploitation recorded steady growth from January to March. The $14.6 million registered in January grew by 875% in February to reach $142.4 million. This amount grew by another 50% to $215 million in March.

It’s worth noting that this year’s $372 million reflects a 71% decline from the $1.2 billion recorded in Q1 2022.

Biggest losers

The report also noted that Euler Finance, BongDAO and CoinDeal contributed the most to the amount lost to exploits and schemes.

On March 13, Euler Finance suffered a flash loan attack and lost $197 million, placing Euler at the top of the charts as the most significant loss in the first quarter of 2023. BonqDAO followed Euler Finance by losing $120 million on an oracle issue on February 2 . The CoinDeal scheme is placed third as it raised $45 million until it was busted on January 4th.

The combined amount lost by Euler Finance and BonqDAO increased to $317 million, accounting for 85% of the total losses recorded since January. The report also noted that flash loan attacks resulted in the most significant losses during the first three months of the year, while oracle issuance followed as second, matching the methods of the two most important attacks in the first quarter.

Chains most attacked

When the attacks are categorized based on their chain, BNB Chain (BNB) emerged as the most popular chain for cryptocriminals. BNB Chain suffered 18 episodes out of 47 recorded during the first three months of the year, accounting for over 38% of attacks.

Ethereum (ETH) followed BNB Chain as the second most popular choice by being the target of 10 attacks, accounting for 21% of attacks. Arbitrum (ARB) was placed third after suffering seven attacks during the first quarter of 2023.

Recovery rate

According to figures, the losses recorded in January and February accounted for 42% of the total losses recorded in the first quarter of 2023, with a zero recovery rate. Only $1.4 million was recovered in March, making up less than 0.3% of the total losses recorded since January.

This rate appears to be significantly lower than the recovery rate recorded in the first quarter of 2022. Over $1.2 billion was lost to fraud and exploits in the first three months of 2022. Of this amount, $520 million was recovered, representing 40% of total amount lost.