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Flash loan attacks drained $1.2B from DeFi platforms since 2020

Researchers found 72 flash loan attacks among 254 successful DeFi attacks from February 2020 to July 2024, with flash loans accounting for 18.4% of losses.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Market Structure

Flash loan attacks pulled $1.211 billion from decentralized finance platforms between February 2020 and July 2024, according to new research featured by Decrypt.

The study, published in the Journal of Financial Crime, found 72 flash loan attacks among 254 successful DeFi attacks over the period. Those 254 attacks resulted in $6.568 billion in losses, with 18.4% coming from flash loan attacks, Decrypt reported.

The researchers also said flash loan losses were concentrated on Ethereum, with more than 80% of flash loan attack losses occurring there. Individual flash loan attacks ranged from $80,000 to $197 million, Decrypt added.

Decrypt further noted that flash loans allow users to borrow from a liquidity pool without collateral as long as the loan is repaid within the same blockchain transaction, which attackers use to access capital needed to carry out exploits.

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