Q3 2023 wins crown as most ‘disruptive’ quarter for crypto amid $700M loss: report
The third quarter of 2023 has become the “most financially harmful” quarter of the year, with around 700 million dollars of digital assets lost due to various security risks, according to the quarterly report of blockchain security firm CertiK.
In the report, CertiK highlighted 184 security issues in July, August and September 2023, with over $699 million worth of crypto assets lost in the quarter, surpassing the $320 million loss in the first quarter and $313 million loss in the second quarter.
Among the exploits that caused the damage, private key deals that took more than $204 million in 14 cases were listed as the most damaging. According to the report, the Multichain incident – where private keys were controlled by the project's CEO – resulted in a loss of $125 million. The incident highlighted that centralized control of private keys could lead to vulnerabilities for businesses, leading to the shutdown of Multichain's case.
In addition to private key exploits, external fraud and verbal fraud were also prevalent in the quarter. The report indicated that there were a total of 93 withdrawal scams during the quarter, taking more than $55 million in digital assets. Meanwhile, 38 cases of verbal fraud took in more than $16 million.
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When it comes to crypto hacking, use of the Mixin network on the chain-chain protocol has contributed significantly to September 2023 being the biggest month for crypto mining. On September 25, Mixin Network suspended all withdrawals and deposits after the incident. The company later confirmed that $200 million worth of assets had been removed from its main network.
Certike's quarterly report also highlighted that North Korea's state-linked hacking group Alazar was still a “major threat actor” during the quarter. The group is responsible for at least $291 million in losses in 2023 and continued to operate in the third quarter, according to the report.
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