Blockchain Security Firm Reports Over $2.4M Lost in Last Week’s Crypto Security Breaches

17 views 12:21 pm 0 Comments May 20, 2024

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

  • A deceitful syndicate has reemerged with a fresh fraudulent scheme on the Blast blockchain network, according to SlowMist
  • Various suspected rug pull schemes were identified on the Ethereum network in the preceding week
  • The Zest Protocol breach stood out as a significant security breach last week

Last week witnessed a total loss exceeding $2.4 million due to a series of security breaches within the cryptocurrency realm, including multiple rug pull projects, as reported by the blockchain security specialist SlowMist.

According to SlowMist’s security overview spanning from April 8 to April 14, a sum of $2,488,200 was compromised in security breaches, notably featuring an intricate scam orchestrated by a fraudulent syndicate on the Blast blockchain network.

SlowMist’s security report highlighted that the aforementioned deceitful group, known for prior exploits on platforms like Magnate, Solfire, Lendora, and Kokomo, reappeared on the Blast network under a new guise named Leaper Finance.

By leveraging around $1 million of illicitly obtained funds from previous exploits, they lured users with appealing liquidity, only to vanish with all funds deposited, as disclosed by the on-chain data analysis and security firm on Sunday.

In addition to the Leaper Finance exit scam, there was a spree of “rug pull” incidents on the Ethereum network. Projects such as Fake Truflation, Fake Monad, Fake Oasis AI, and Fake Masa were all suspected of being rug pulls, collectively siphoning over $1 million from investors.

Another significant incident during the week was the breach of the Zest protocol, according to SlowMist. Zest, once considered a beacon of stability in the Bitcoin-native lending domain, fell victim to an exploit where an attacker made off with 324,000 Stacks (STX), equivalent to approximately $897,480 from the protocol.

Following the exploit, Zest issued a series of statements on X (formerly Twitter) addressing the attack, assuring users that their balances were secure. However, the protocol remains inactive as the team diligently works on relaunching it securely. A reward of $100,000 has been announced by Zest for any information leading to the apprehension of the attacker and the recovered funds.

Security breaches in the cryptocurrency sector persist as hackers continually innovate their tactics to defraud eager investors.

One of the recent breaches involved the crypto exchange FixedFloat, which fell victim once again to the same attackers who had previously stolen $26 million in Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) in February. The FixedFloat website has been inaccessible for maintenance purposes for the past two weeks following the subsequent breach.

SlowMist previously disclosed that the crypto industry suffered losses totaling approximately $139 million last month. Nearly half of the major security incidents in March were attributed to “insider malfeasance,” as highlighted by the blockchain security firm.