Fewer Hacks in December
Losses from cryptocurrency attacks dropped by 60% in December, but users still need to stay alert for scams.
Losses caused by hacking incidents in the cryptocurrency space declined significantly in December. According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, the total value of stolen funds amounted to approximately $76 million. This represents a 60% decrease compared to November, when losses reached $194.2 million.
Despite this improvement, users continued to suffer substantial losses. In December alone, 26 major security incidents were recorded. The single largest loss resulted from a wallet address impersonation scam, in which one user lost $50 million. This type of attack involves sending small amounts of cryptocurrency from an address that closely resembles a legitimate one, hoping the victim will fail to notice the difference.
In another case, a private key leak occurred in a multi-signature wallet, leading to losses of around $27.3 million. Although the total amount stolen was lower overall, experts emphasize that security threats remain very real.
Among the more high-profile incidents were a Christmas-time breach of Trust Wallet, which resulted in losses of $7 million, and an attack on Flow, where $3.9 million was stolen. In the case of Trust Wallet, the issue affected the browser extension, which is more vulnerable to attacks due to its constant internet connection.
Security specialists remind users that one of the safest ways to store cryptocurrencies is through offline hardware wallets. Additionally, they advise carefully checking the recipient’s wallet address character by character each time, rather than selecting it automatically from transaction history.
