Page 167 - Cyber Defense eMagazine September 2023
P. 167
The $390 Million Alarm Bell: Why Cold
Wallets Are No Longer Optional in Crypto
By Mark Venables, CEO of The Crypto Merchant
In July 2023, the cryptocurrency sector saw a significant escalation of cyber-related incidents. The loss
was initially reported at $486 million but has since been recalculated to reflect new information and placed
close to $390 million. The reduction gave little comfort to those who saw losses during the month and
didn’t do much to set the crypto world at ease.
Most losses were attributed to the Ethereum platform, which lost over $350 million in 36 incidents.
Binance recorded notable losses totaling around $11 million from 18 incidents. Regarding the recovery
efforts, their success was minor — only $7.63 million were reclaimed.
The gravity of this July’s incident report becomes even more apparent compared to July 2022, when
slightly more than $80 million in cryptocurrency was lost in incidents. The fivefold increase occurred over
access control exploits, rugpulls, and reentrancy attacks. It was a stark reminder that cryptocurrency
holders must take security more seriously.
Cyber Defense eMagazine – September 2023 Edition 167
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