The amount of cryptocurrency lost to “rug pull” or “exit scams” — where founders suddenly up and leave with investors’ money — had outpaced the amount stolen from decentralized finance (DeFi) projects in May, a blockchain security firm has revealed.
A June 1 report from Beosin said in May total losses from rug pulls and scams reached over $45 million across six incidents.
Meanwhile, there were 10 attacks on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols that netted only $19.7 million. The amount is a nearly 80% decrease from April and losses from these types of exploits had been on the decline for two months, it added.
Rug Pull Outpaces Attacks: The total amount involved in #rugpull reached $45.02 million, surpassing losses from attacks
2/5
— Beosin Blockchain Security (@Beosin_com) June 1, 2023
The largest of such rug pulls was the $32 million that crypto project Fintoch is alleged to have made off with on May 24. The $7.5 million attack on the DeFi platform Jimbos protocol was the largest attack last month according to Beosin.
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“Hackers and scammers are gradually shifting the target of their attacks from various project parties to ordinary users,” Beosin wrote.
It recommended crypto users “raise their anti-fraud awareness,” undertake due diligence on a…
