Record-low crypto losses in April, despite some major hacks

April has recorded an all-time low level of crypto losses due to hacks and scams, according to a report from blockchain security platform Certik. During the month, only $25.7 million was lost to such attacks, the lowest amount since CertiK started tracking this data in 2021.

Significant decrease in losses from month earlier

The 141% drop in losses from the previous month is mainly attributed to a decrease in private key compromises. In March, CertiK registered eleven attacks on protocols via this route, while in April there were only three such incidents.

Nevertheless, some significant hacks and scams have still caused significant losses. For example, the memecoin Condom, which advertised a pre-sale on the Solana network, was used to deceive unsuspecting users, resulting in a loss of approximately $933,000. Also, FixedFloat, a crypto exchange via the Bitcoin Lightning Network, suffered a loss of approximately $3 million due to a hack on April 1; this was the second attack on the platform in 2024.

Most of the losses come from exploits

Of the total reported loss of $25.7 million, the largest portion — $21 million — came from exploits. Three of these breaches resulted in more than $1 million in damages each. Flash loan attacks were responsible for $129,000 in losses, with the largest individual attack costing $55,000. This was the lowest number of flash loan attacks since February 2022. Additionally, there were thirteen exit scams this month, which is a 40% decrease from March.

Interestingly, the ZKasino project, which prevented investors from withdrawing their deposited funds, has not yet been classified as a fraud despite the controversy. CertiK has indicated that it will update its figures if it is confirmed that ZKasino is acting unlawfully. After the release of the CertiK report, decentralized finance app Yield Protocol continued to operate for $181,000 despite being officially shut down by the developer. The immutable nature of smart contracts allows some users to still interact with them.