As of July 31 this year, Binance had recovered $73 million in stolen cryptocurrencies. This represents a notable 33% increase from the approximately $55 million recovered in 2023.
Recovering and Freezing Illegal Crypto Assets
According to the crypto giant, the platform's security team has been at the forefront of recovering misplaced and lost funds and freezing ill-gotten gains that find their way onto the exchange . Binance has also reportedly collaborated with both industry peers and the public sector to ensure that affected users receive the necessary support.
Approximately 80% of the recovered and frozen funds are tied to hacks, exploits, and thefts that occurred outside the Binance platform. The remaining 20% involves scams that also originated externally. Binance's stance has been instrumental in these recoveries, with Chief Security Officer Jimmy Su emphasizing the company's user-centric culture as a driving force behind these achievements.
Contrary to what might be expected, the increase in recovered and frozen funds does not indicate a rise in criminal activity within the cryptocurrency space. With all transactions publicly recorded, it has reportedly become easier to trace and recover stolen funds.
Crypto Crime Report
According to Chainalysis' 2024 Crypto Crime Report, the total value received by illicit cryptocurrency addresses dropped significantly in 2023. The report noted a decline in the share of all crypto transaction volume associated with illicit activity, from 0.42% in 2022 to 0.34% in 2023.
A recent report showed that the cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) space suffered a whopping $1.19 billion in losses due to hacks, scams, and exploits in the first half of 2024.
According to the latest report by blockchain security firm CertiK, there is a worrying trend in the crypto space in relation to security challenges. Among the challenges, phishing attacks have become the most damaging factor, resulting in $497.7 million in losses across 150 incidents.
Secondly, private key exploits are the most costly attack type, having resulted in $408.9 million lost over 42 major incidents. Ethereum blockchain suffered the most, reporting 235 security incidents that led to nearly $400 million in losses.
