April Crypto Hacking Damages Soar 1,368% to $600 Million… Ethereum Deposits Hit Hard

▲ Cryptocurrency Hacking ©

In just three weeks, an astronomical sum exceeding $600 million has evaporated from the virtual asset market due to hacking, unleashing an unprecedented exodus in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. As investor confidence shatters due to a series of massive security incidents, a deep sense of fear pervades the market, with over $10 billion in deposits withdrawn in a single day.

According to crypto media outlet Finbold on April 20 (local time), an analysis of DeFiLlama data revealed that the total damage from virtual asset hacking reached a staggering $662,159,950 as of the 20th of this month. Notably, the attack on KelpDAO, an Ethereum (ETH)-based liquid restaking protocol, on the 18th, which resulted in the theft of approximately $293 million, was a decisive blow that exponentially increased the scale of this damage.

Prior to this, a major incident occurred earlier this month when approximately $286 million was leaked from Drift Trade, an open-source perpetual futures exchange based on the Solana (SOL) network. Due to these consecutive major hacks, the total hacking damage this month surged by an astounding 1,368% compared to the previous month, setting an unfortunate new 14-month high.

As the risk of sophisticated hacking attacks became a reality, fearful investors are withdrawing large amounts of funds. Over the past 24 hours, a net outflow of over $10 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) occurred across the top 20 chains. The overall TVL, which stood at $99.49 billion on the 18th, has plummeted to approximately $85.41 billion, clearly demonstrating a rapid capital flight.

The Ethereum network, the foundation of KelpDAO, was the hardest hit. Ethereum's TVL plummeted by $10.34 billion in just two days, falling to approximately $46.16 billion. Aave (AAVE), a major multi-chain lending protocol, also saw its deposits shrink from $26.39 billion on the 18th to $17.51 billion, marking its lowest level since 2026.

David Schwartz, former Chief Technology Officer of Ripple Labs, strongly warned of a systemic risk that this situation could spread to other platforms, citing many protocols that neglected security in their haste to expand the ecosystem. Meanwhile, security experts are pointing to TraderTraitor, a sub-organization of North Korea's Lazarus Group, as the mastermind behind this series of hacks, unanimously emphasizing the urgent need for industry-wide, rigorous security measures.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*