Crypto hacks rise 67% as August losses hit $136M

Crypto hacks increased sharply in August, although the estimated value stolen fell by nearly half compared with July, according to blockchain security company PeckShield. Summary 50 major crypto hacks caused an estimated $136.3 million in losses during August, PeckShield reported. August’s incident count increased 67% from July, while estimated losses declined 49.5% month over month. Tectonic accounted for approximately $74 million, more than half of PeckShield’s estimated monthly losses overall. Cronos validators halted production before the attacker could move most identified assets onto Ethereum successfully. Cronos later resumed blocks after validators restored network state to before the Tectonic exploit occurred. PeckShield eported on Sept. 1 that it recorded 50 major incidents during August. That was a 67% increase from the 30 incidents counted in July. Estimated losses reached $136.3 million, down 49.5% from approximately $270 million in July. The figures represent PeckShield’s estimates and may change as affected projects investigate transactions, freeze assets or recover funds. The Tectonic lending incident dominated the month, accounting for approximately $74 million, or...