Crypto Hacks Cost $110M in July as Bug Bounty Payouts Rise 18%

July hacks inflicted $110M in losses while Immunefi paid $2.32M in bounties. Audit competitions reveal significantly more severe vulnerabilities than tier-1 audits, highlighting cost efficiency.

Woofun AI reports that the cryptocurrency sector incurred approximately $110 million in losses from hacks during July. Immunefi distributed $2.32 million to researchers for confirmed vulnerabilities, marking an 18% quarterly increase in compensated bounties. The platform's vulnerability programs neutralized 374 threats, surpassing June's 317 and May's 339, with total researcher payouts reaching $143.1 million.

Data indicates that audit competitions identified a median of 6.2 severe vulnerabilities per event, compared to zero in 1,178 tier-1 audits and 1.5 in traditional reviews. The average cost to uncover a severe flaw via competitions was $6,548, versus $66,000 for private tier-1 audits, while potential attacker exploitation costs could reach $24.5 million.