In a twist of fate, the classic rug pulls of the crypto world are taking a backseat, and memecoin scams are taking the spotlight on Base, Tron, and Solana. Who would’ve thought that the world of digital currencies would have its own version of “trendsetters”?
The third quarter of 2024 saw a dramatic drop in hacks, with only 28 incidents recorded. Sounds like a win, right? Well, not quite. Despite the decrease in hack numbers, a whopping $463.6 million vanished into thin air. And here's the kicker – over $440 million of that is gone for good, never to be seen again. Yikes!
A recent report from cybersecurity gurus at Hacken sends chills down our spines. It reveals that a staggering 95% of the stolen funds are lost forever. In the good old days (or earlier quarters), 50-60% of stolen assets found their way home. But not this time. This dire situation screams for better post-incident strategies.
“This quarter has been a nightmare for recovering stolen funds,” lamented the report. Only three lucky projects managed to claw back their assets. Remember the good times when victims got a portion of their money back? Not this quarter, my friends.
Regionally speaking, Asia took the hardest hit with $264 million in losses. Australia wasn't far behind with $43.3 million, Europe reported $22.16 million, and North America lost $15 million. It seems like no corner of the globe is safe from these digital bandits.
The most dangerous attacks are those where hackers snatch control over seed phrases or functions, giving them free rein to empty wallets or smart contracts. With eight incidents and $316 million stolen, these access control breaches far outpaced other attack types.
Next on the list are reentrancy attacks, notorious for exploiting loopholes in smart contracts to drain funds repeatedly. Though only three of these attacks occurred this quarter, they still managed to swipe over $33 million.
While the traditional rug pulls are on the decline, memecoin mania is in full swing on platforms like Base, Tron, and Solana. Solana’s meme coin hotspot, pump.fun, recently saw the launch of over 2 million coins, yet only 89 reached a market cap of $1 million. According to Hacken's report, it seems scammers are now crafting these low-value coins to mimic rug pull tactics without any real substance. Talk about jumping on the bandwagon!
