$302 Million Lost to Crypto Scams, Hacks, and Exploits in May: CertiK

Cryptocurrency investors suffered losses exceeding $300 million in May due to scams, hacks, and exploits, according to blockchain security firm CertiK. The majority of these losses stemmed from code vulnerability exploits, which surged to $229 million—a staggering 4,483% increase from April.

Phishing attacks, where attackers steal user credentials, accounted for $47 million in losses. Private key compromises and price manipulation contributed $11.6 million and $1 million, respectively. "May revealed a striking anomaly: code vulnerabilities dominated exploited funds," noted Natalie Newson, senior blockchain security researcher at CertiK.

Despite the spike, losses from code vulnerabilities have declined significantly over the years. In 2024, $173 million was lost to such exploits, compared to $1.3 billion in 2021. The largest incident involved the Cetus Protocol exploit, where attackers absconded with $225 million, prompting sui to controversially halt its blockchain.