DeFi Hacks: $20M+ Lost in 2021, Flash Loans at Fault

  • DeFi remains the main target for hackers in the crypto industry, with more than $20 million stolen since the beginning of 2023.
  • Platforms such as dForce network, Platypus Finance, Orion, and Dexible have been impacted by the hacks.
  • Flash loan attacks are the most dominant among all DeFi attacks, leading to a major pain point in the DeFi market.

DeFi Remains The Target For Bad Actors In Crypto Industry

Several reports of hacks in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space last year have indicated that DeFi still seems to remain the main target for bad actors in the industry. According to data from DefiLlama, millions of dollars have been siphoned from the DeFi market since early 2021. In January alone, $740,000 was stolen and February witnessed a record-high amount of nearly $21 million being taken away from several DeFi protocols.

Hacks Impact Different Platforms

The platforms that were impacted by these hacks include dForce network, Platypus Finance, Orion and Dexible with each of them carrying larger value of thefts. Platypus Fianance was found to be hit hardest with a total amount of $8.5 million lost while dForce network came second at $3.65 million loss followed by Orion at $3 million and Dexible losing nearly two million dollars. Furthermore Hope Finance also lost around 1.86 million while Arbiswap had to face a theft worth 0.1 million dollars.

Dominance Of Flash Loan Attacks

Most of these attacks were classified under protocol logic with only few falling under rug pulls or smart contract language category. Flash loan attacks emerged as most popular technique among other hacks dominating this list according to DefiLlama due to which it has become major concern for entire DeFi market now days as hackers also started exploring other methods like rug pulls or language issues related with smart contracts .

Prevention Measures Needed To Curb These Attacks

To prevent these kinds of attacks from recurring it is important that everyone should understand what actually flash loans are and how can they be prevented? There is need for proper security measures like auditing for smart contracts before launching them on blockchain networks so that loopholes could be identified if any present before hand rather than solving them after attack happened already causing monetary losses not only to users but developers too sometimes . Moreover there should be proper risk management plan implemented within system which could provide notification if any suspicious activity seen on platform so that user funds could be protected before doing any damage .

Conclusion

In conclusion , It is clear that despite having many advantages over traditional banking system , decentralized finance (DeFi) space still remains vulnerable against malicious actors because of lack secure environment when compared traditional banking systems due its open source nature . Therefore , it is necessary for developers working on new projects within this space should take extra precautionary measures while designing their projects which could help reduce chances these kind incidents happening again .

DeFi Hacks: $20M+ Lost in 2021, Flash Loans at Fault

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