Crypto Investors Lose $300 Million in May Due to Scams, Hacks

In May, cryptocurrency investors suffered significant losses amounting to over $300 million due to scams, hacks, and exploits, as reported by blockchain security firm CertiK. The majority of these losses, totaling $229 million, were attributed to code vulnerability exploits, marking a staggering 4,483% increase from the previous month.

Phishing attacks, where attackers steal users' trading account or wallet credentials, resulted in losses of $47 million. Additionally, private key compromises and price manipulations accounted for $11.6 million and $1 million in losses, respectively.

CertiK's senior blockchain security researcher, Natalie Newson, highlighted an interesting trend in May: a notable surge in losses from code vulnerabilities, which constituted the majority of exploited funds. Newson also pointed out that over the past few years, losses from code vulnerabilities have significantly decreased. In 2024, $173 million was lost to code vulnerabilities, a stark contrast to the $1.3 billion lost in 2021.

The most significant incident in May was the Cetus Protocol exploit, which led to the controversial pause of the Sui blockchain. Attackers managed to steal $225 million in this exploit, underscoring the severity of the security breaches in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.