DeFi hacks totaled 170 billion won in Q1…“Scale has fallen, but security concerns persist”

Uk Jin

Summary

It was reported that DeFi protocols suffered hacking losses of about $168.6 million in the first quarter this year.
The scale of losses was said to be down about 90% from $1.58 billion a year earlier.
The industry analyzed the decline in hacking losses as driven by market conditions, while emphasizing that vulnerabilities can be exploited at any time, making continuous security management essential.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

On the 3rd (Korea time), Cointelegraph reported that decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols suffered hacking losses of about $168.6 million (roughly 170 billion won) in the first quarter this year.

That figure is down about 90% from a year earlier ($1.58 billion). This is due to the Bybit centralized exchange hack that occurred in the first quarter of last year. Bybit had $1.4 billion worth of virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) stolen in that incident.

According to DeFiLlama, a total of 34 DeFi protocols suffered hacking incidents during the first quarter this year. The biggest loss stemmed from a private-key leak at “Step Finance,” with roughly $40 million in virtual assets stolen. Truebit and Resolve Labs were also cited as major protocols hit by hacks.

The industry attributed the smaller scale of hacks to “market conditions.” Nick Percoco, chief security officer (CSO) at Kraken, said that “attackers tend to become more active during periods when inflows increase, such as bull markets or new service launches,” adding that “attacks follow where value is concentrated.”

However, he stressed that “vulnerabilities can be exploited at any time regardless of market conditions” and that “continuous security management is essential, especially for complex, rapidly evolving systems.”