Just as physical thefts occur, the world of cryptocurrencies is not spared from hacks and scams. The security firm CertiK monitors these incidents and recently shared its October results.

Crypto losses in October Slightly Rising

Compared to September, October saw a slight increase in crypto losses. While September ended with a loss of $123.4 million, October saw an increase of nearly 3% to $129.7 million. While any increase in crypto losses is undesirable, the losses remain lower than earlier this year. In May, for example, losses totaled nearly $325 million.

CertiK (a smart contract auditor) divides crypto losses into three categories. The largest losses were incurred by traditional hacks, such as attacks on crypto exchanges and personal wallets. This category caused losses of $127 million in October. The second-largest loss came from "flash loans," a misuse of a special lending mechanism within decentralized finance (DeFi), accounting for a loss of $1.5 million. In third place are so-called "exit scams," which cost investors $1.2 million.

Radiant Capital: Biggest Crypto hack of October

The biggest loss came in the name of crypto-exchange Radiant Capital. By accessing private keys and smart contracts, a hacker managed to capture as much as $50 million worth of crypto assets. Radiant Capital discovered that the hacker gained access through malware installed on the computers of three developers. In response, the company implemented additional security measures, including a 72-hour waiting period for protocol access. Services resumed on Nov. 1.

Conclusion

October's figures show that crypto remains vulnerable to a variety of threats. CertiK's data highlights the need for continued security improvements in the crypto industry to mitigate such losses and ensure investor confidence.