Cryptocurrency thefts escalated sharply in July, with hackers stealing approximately $142 million through security breaches across multiple platforms. This marks a concerning 27% increase from June’s $111 million losses, highlighting growing vulnerabilities in the digital asset ecosystem.
India-based CoinDCX suffered the largest attack, losing $44 million due to compromised backend servers. The breach exposed critical weaknesses in institutional infrastructure alongside persistent threats from social engineering tactics, as evidenced by coordinated phishing attacks targeting other platforms including decentralized exchange WOO X.
Other significant incidents included cyberattacks on exchange BigONE ($27 million hot wallet breach) and decentralized exchange GMX ($40 million exploit). Security analysts note a strategic shift by hackers toward targeting offchain backend systems – prioritizing exchanges’ operational vulnerabilities over purely blockchain-based exploits.
The alarming trend underscores urgent industry-wide needs for enhanced security protocols, including comprehensive staff training against social engineering and reinforced protections for institutional backend systems.