March Witnesses Major Losses and Exploits
Nearly half of the Q1 2023 losses, totaling $215 million, occurred in the first three weeks of March. The Euler Finance and Bonq DAO exploits were responsible for $196 million and $120 million in losses, respectively. These events made the Ethereum blockchain suffer the most significant losses in dollar terms.
CoinDeal and Monkey Drainer Phishing Scams
Following the Euler Finance and Bonq DAO exploits, the CoinDeal scheme exploited $45 million, while the Monkey Drainer phishing scammers caused $16.5 million in losses.
Flash Loan Attacks and Smart Contract Exploits Dominate
Out of the 49 cases examined in the De.Fi report, six flash loan attacks accounted for over $200 million in losses, with Euler Finance representing most of it. Smart contract exploits were the most common, with 17 incidents.
DeFi Suffers Majority of Losses
Decentralized finance (DeFi) experienced only five incidents but suffered the most losses, amounting to $336 million in Q1 2023.
Lower Recovery Rate in Q1 2023
In the first quarter of 2023, $130 million was recovered from the exploits, with $129 million returned by the Euler Finance hackers. This recovery rate of 28.7% is lower than the 40% recovery rate in the first quarter of 2022.
Retail Users Affected by Losses
While DeFi dominated the losses reported, retail users were also impacted by losses from decentralized exchanges, crypto tokens, and nonfungible tokens. Theft remains a constant challenge for retail users, with scams continuously evolving.
