Attacks and Exploits in DeFi | Crypto.com (2024)

DeFi has taken the world by storm thanks to its boundless opportunities and applications. This report has covered several common DeFi attack vectors and mitigations, including price oracle manipulation, reentrancy attack and the rug pull.

Aug 10, 2021

Attacks and Exploits in DeFi | Crypto.com (1)

While DeFi has been gaining an increasing level of market growth in terms of both popularity and liquidity, the openness of DeFi has also led to frequent occurrences of security incidents such as hacks and exploits that always resulted in the loss of participants’ funds. In this report, we will explore different major DeFi attack vectors that you should be aware of and understand how such attacks can wipe out millions from the protocols.

Key Takeaways

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has taken the world by storm thanks to its boundless opportunities and applications. According to DeFi Pulse, the industry has exceeded $57 Billion in total value locked (TVL) as in June 2021.

DeFi protocols have become appealing targets for hackers as the open and immutable nature of smart contracts has made hacking hard to prevent. More than $500 million worth of assets have been stolen in the last 8 months due to hacks and exploits. The growing number of attacks may slow down the mainstream adoption of decentralized finance solutions.

This report has covered several common DeFi attack vectors and mitigations, including price oracle manipulation, reentrancy attack and the rug pull.

Price Oracle manipulation using flash loans is the most common type of exploits in recent years. Malicious parties can use large amounts of unsecured loans to manipulate the assets’ apparent prices on decentralized exchanges (DEX). If a protocol relies on one single DEX as the only price oracle, it will become vulnerable to the manipulation of price data.

Read the full version of the Attacks and Exploits in DeFi here.

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Attacks and Exploits in DeFi | Crypto.com (2024)

FAQs

Attacks and Exploits in DeFi | Crypto.com? ›

DeFi has taken the world by storm thanks to its boundless opportunities and applications. This report has covered several common DeFi attack vectors and mitigations, including price oracle manipulation, reentrancy attack and the rug pull.

What were the top 5 biggest DeFi exploits? ›

The 5 biggest DeFi hacks of 2023
  1. Mixin Network — $200 million. ...
  2. Euler Finance — $197 million. ...
  3. Poloniex — $126 million. ...
  4. Multichain — $126 million. ...
  5. Atomic Wallet — $100 million.
Dec 22, 2023

What are the threats of DeFi? ›

7 DeFi risks affecting users
  • Smart contract risk. A smart contract is a written agreement made on a blockchain using computer codes. ...
  • Liquidation risk. Liquidation definition. ...
  • Volatility risk. ...
  • Slippage risk. ...
  • Maximal extractable value (MEV) risk. ...
  • Regulatory risk. ...
  • Impermanent loss risk.
Oct 17, 2023

What are the vulnerabilities of DeFi? ›

Key management compromises. The most common DeFi cybersecurity risks are “key management compromises” (e.g. by individual users or by admins/developers at projects and exchanges), coding mistakes, misuse of third-party protocols, and business logic errors.

How much money has been lost in DeFi hacks? ›

Why the huge drop in stolen funds? Mostly due to a drop in DeFi hacking. Hacks of DeFi protocols largely drove the huge increase in stolen crypto that we saw in 2021 and 2022, with cybercriminals stealing more than $3.1 billion in DeFi hacks in 2022. But in 2023, hackers stole just $1.1 billion from DeFi protocols.

How many hacks are there in DeFi? ›

  • Total Value Hacked (USD) $7.77b.
  • Total Value Hacked in DeFi (USD) $5.85b.
  • Total Value Hacked in Bridges (USD) $2.83b.

Which coin is the king of DeFi? ›

KING OF DEFI Price (KODX)

KODX is a decentralize finance aggregation protocol that delivers a diverse range of staking and lending products all at once. KODX would be put up as collateral to borrow stable coin Such as TRC20-USDT, USDJ.

How does DeFi get hacked? ›

This is how it works: The attacker rents mining capacities and forms a block containing only the transactions they need. Within the given block, they can first borrow tokens, manipulate the prices and then return the borrowed tokens.

How is DeFi hacked? ›

Hackers exploit DeFi protocols through various methods. One of the most popular DeFi hacks is a smart contract exploit, which involves exploiting flaws in the code of the smart contract used by the DeFi protocol. This method allows hackers to manipulate the DeFi protocol's behavior and steal users' assets.

What is the biggest problem in DeFi? ›

Impermanent loss. Impermanent loss is one of the most common and misunderstood DeFi market risks. When a user provides liquidity, they must deposit two types of assets. As other users buy and sell tokens from the pool, the asset ratios shift, increasing the value of one while lowering the value of the other.

What is the safest DeFi? ›

Uniswap's decentralized exchange (DEX) functionality makes it the go-to platform for traders seeking efficient and secure transactions. The absence of intermediaries and the use of smart contracts ensure transparency and reduce the risk of fraud, positioning Uniswap as the best DeFi trading platform in 2024.

How do you stay safe in DeFi? ›

It's recommended that all DeFi users should disconnect their crypto wallets after each session when using DeFi platforms. By disconnecting, you prevent other Web3 apps from accessing your wallet details and token balances, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and potential loss of funds.

What is DeFi slippage? ›

Slippage, in the context of DeFi trading, refers to the discrepancy between the expected price of a trade and the price at which it is executed. It is the difference between what you intend to pay or receive for a trade and what you end up paying or receiving.

Can someone hack my DeFi wallet? ›

Wallets can be accessed by hackers using various techniques and can even be locked by ransomware.

Why did DeFi fail? ›

The biggest risk in the current DeFi market is not based on mechanistic failures such as those that caused the collapse of Terra, but rather on three key factors: scale, complexity, and interconnectivity.

How do you not lose money in DeFi? ›

How to avoid it: If you are swapping an illiquid token, the only thing that can be done to minimize negative price impact is to reduce the amount swapped. As a courtesy, 1inch provides a warning that will show how much you will lose (in percentage terms) to price impact before you make the swap.

What is the largest DeFi project? ›

Lido (LDO)

Lido is the largest liquid staking platform, with over $28 billion worth of ETH locked with it. It is also the largest DeFi project, accounting for a third of the entire sector. Lido is the go-to platform for staking ether.

What is the largest DeFi exchange? ›

Uniswap is the world's biggest decentralized exchange. You can use Uniswap to buy, sell, and trade ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. To start using Uniswap, simply plug in your Ethereum wallet.

What is the strongest DeFi? ›

These 5 DeFi platforms are primed to explode in 2024
  • Solana. 12,620.44 (6.81%) Buy.
  • BNB. 48,248 (4.03%) Buy.
  • Ethereum. 2,64,474 (4.01%) Buy.
  • Bitcoin. 54,44,104 (2.4%) Buy.
  • Tether. 83.39 (0.05%) Buy.
Mar 5, 2024

What are the biggest DeFi coins? ›

In this guide, we will review the most popular decentralized finance (DeFi) cryptocurrency coins for 2024. DEXs dominate DeFi with Uniswap (UNI) holding a $6.44 billion market cap. Lido (LIDO) leads staking protocols with a $3 billion TVL. Aave (AAVE) tops lending/borrowing with a $2 billion TVL.

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