
Losses in the centralized finance (CeFi) sector doubled in 2024, while projects in the decentralized finance (DeFi) market demonstrated better resilience against security breaches.
Data from Web3 security firm Hacken Expose The hack caused losses of over $2.3 billion across the entire cryptocurrency sector, with CeFi suffering the most compared to other categories like DeFi, Gaming/Metaverse, Wallets/Users and ‘Other’.

Source: Hacken
While losses in DeFi shrank by 40% over the past year, value in CeFi nearly doubled, rising from $339 million in 2023 to $694 million in 2024.
Both sectors suffered the most losses in the first half of the year, but high-profile breaches in the CeFi market led to notable gains for the sector.
Top two CeFi hacks of the year:
- dmm bitcoin
Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin recorded the biggest loss Exploiters withdrew approximately $304 million from the platform after its private keys were compromised in 2024.
- WazirX
July hack of Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX after bad actors rocked the local market $230 million wasted The value of the user’s assets from the exchange’s hot wallet.
The hackers managed to gain access to 4 of the 6 signatures required to sign a transaction, allowing them to upgrade the wallet to a malicious contract.
DeFi security strengthened
According to Hacken, the DeFi sector benefited from innovations in multiparty computation (MPC) protocols, zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), and improved bridge security, which significantly reduces vulnerabilities.
For example, MPC allows multiple parties to jointly manage private keys without exposing them, while ZKP allows the blockchain network to verify transactions without disclosing sensitive data.
Yet the attackers managed to target several DeFi platforms.
Top two DeFi hacks of the year:
- shining capital
Hackers targeted the DeFi protocol in mid-October and used malware to infect the systems of some of the project’s developers. Subsequently, they intercepted and manipulated the transaction to almost abort it. $55 million worth of property From one of its loan pools.
- orbit bridge
cross-chain protocol was targeted By compromising several multi-signature wallet signers in early January. This allowed the attackers to bypass security checks and authorize malicious transactions, resulting in the theft of approximately $80 million worth of assets.
Private key theft is the biggest threat
In 2024, private key theft remains the biggest threat to the crypto industry, with major exploits in both DeFi and CeFi originating from compromised private keys and vulnerable multi-signature wallet setups.
As the saying goes, “Not your keys, not your crypto.”
In fact, the percentage of attacks originating from access control exploits has increased compared to last year.
Nearly 50% of hacks in 2023 were due to private key compromise and weak access controls, but this year that percentage increased to 75%.
Private key has been leaked Continuous Significant financial loss occurred.
According to a report by security firm PeckShield, it caused a loss of $7.2 million in November alone.
A similar trend was observed by CertiK, which informed 65 incidents caused by leaked private keys in the third quarter of 2024 resulted in a loss of $343.1 million.
Post Crypto hack losses on centralized finance platforms to double in 2024: Report first appeared on Invez