SlowMist, the leader in blockchain security, was founded in 2018 but has been collecting statistical data about Web3 exploits since 2012. The cybersecurity team's Hacked archive updates statistics after new events that cause financial harm to the crypto-community.

Read more: December starts small with minor Web3 exploits

This platform has provided data that shows Web3 projects, crypto users and their losses have totaled $31,331,784,491.24 in the last 12 months, due to 1,343 hacking incidents.

SlowMist reported that 278 hacks occurred in the Ethereum ecosystem during this time period. Binance Smart Chain is the next most popular, with 220 hacks reported since 2012. EOS, a blockchain designed to be a decentralized system for decentralized industrial apps, also has been subjected to a large number of attacks. There have been 120 incidents.

Over the years, projects within the Ethereum eco-system have experienced the largest financial losses. They exceeded $3.302 Billion. Hackers who compromised Web3 projects that rely on the BSC Network acquired the second highest amount, exceeding $1.474 billion.

SlowMist identified 17 hacks that affected the Polygon ecosystem. However, the incidents resulted in a theft of $178.32 Million -- six times the amount of the EOS ecosystem's losses despite the higher number of hackers. The 12 hacks that affected the Avalanche Network resulted in an enormous loss of $133.194 millions.

Moreover, with just 19 reported exploits projects that used Solana have lost over $534 million.

Read more: November Web3 exploits cause $363 million loss

According to SlowMist, there were 136 exploits that targeted exchange platforms. These platforms appear more vulnerable to hacks than other Web3 projects. This has resulted in losses of almost $11.5 billion dollars since 2012. SlowMist reports that 107 security incidents have resulted in losses of over $11.404 millions.

SlowMist’s Hacked Archive highlights the most common types of security incidents. Exit scams are the most popular form of exploit. Then, attacks that exploit contract vulnerabilities, Flash Loan attacks, Discord Hacks, Private Key Leakage, and other scams are listed.

SlowMist Hacked also offers summaries for security incidents. Stargate Snapshot was detected yesterday, and is the most recent incident reported as of the date of this press release.

SlowMist reports that "a Discord mod on LayerZero reported that a fraudster who used a phishing URL within a vote for a Stargate Snapshot proposal, inducing users to stake STG Tokens." The scam resulted in an estimated $43,000 loss for more than 1,000 victims.

SlowMist implemented filters to enhance the navigation of the Hacked archives. Users can now select incidents by project, ecosystem or year.

Solana (SOL), at the beginning of this month, made waves by surpassing Polygon (MATIC), and Optimism(OP) on the chain trading volume. This was a great reminder to the crypto-community that Solana is growing in strength. Solana outperformed Avalanche in terms of total value locked (TVL), within decentralized apps (dApps).

Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of Solana, is credited with the project's recent successes. This success can be attributed to the growing interest in Solana projects, liquid stake protocols, decentralized exchanges and his leadership. Raoul Pal, a renowned trader, praised Solana's speed and ease of use. He compared it favorably to Ethereum. Solana's current momentum and resilience is a reminder that it has the potential to compete with some of the biggest players in the blockchain sector.

Solana Transactions Volume Beats Polygon & Optimism

The Solana blockchain made quite a splash in the cryptocurrency world at the start of this month by outperforming both MATIC, and OP, which are two popular Ethereum-based Layer 2 solution, in terms aggregated trading volume on the chain. The daily trading volume of Solana soared above $240,000,000 per day. Polygon and Optimism, on the other hand, recorded $137,000,000 and $40,000,000 per day respectively during this period. This accomplishment highlights Solana’s growing dominance, as it recorded more transactions on-chain than its Ethereum-based rivals combined.

Also, it is worth noting that the native token SOL of the network outperformed AVAX on Saturday in terms TVL within its dApp eco-system. Solana's dApp eco-system boasted a television value of $688,000,000, exceeding Avalanche’s $660,000,000. Solana's TVL could be challenged by Polygon and Optimism in the near future. In the last month alone, Solana TVL has risen by over 60%, while its price has risen by about 45%.

Solana, however, is still trying catch up with Arbitrum, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution that has a huge market share. Arbitrum boasts an impressive TVL of almost $2.2 billion, and a trading volume daily exceeding $363 millions.

Many people in the community have guessed what might be behind Solana’s recent successes. Many people believe that the success of Solana's projects, such as "SolScriptions" and meme coins has been attributed to the growing interest in Solana. Jito and Marinade Finance, two liquid staking protocols on the Solana blockchain, have been very successful at attracting new users as well as liquidity. Decentralized exchanges such as Raydium and Orca have also gained some traction in the Solana eco-system.

Solana Bouncing Back

The project is still a long way from its goal to become the "Nasdaq of the blockchain", but the SOL token has seen its price increase by 500% over the last year. Anatoly Yakovenko and his team of dedicated developers work hard to increase the global reach of the project through innovative products like the Sage Phone.

Ethereum supporters are still cautious about Solana because of its trade-offs. However, influential Ethereum developers and advocates believe that "monolithic chains" like Solana may be able to dominate the market, due to the difficulties in scaling Ethereum without compromising on user experience.

Yakovenko is also gaining respect in the crypto developer community as a result of his willingness and ability to participate in constructive and critical discussions on podcasts and social media. In this year's op-ed, the cofounder made a major step in his role of a prominent figure in the industry by writing it in Fortune. In his article, he argued for sensible regulation of digital currencies. He expressed his concern that an overly reactive approach to cryptocurrency regulations in the U.S. might lead to a loss of talent. He also said that he meets aspiring entrepreneurs who are eager to innovate within the U.S. technology sector, but they lack the knowledge of how to set up a blockchain compliant company. This highlights the need for clear regulations.

Solana vs Ethereum

Raoul Pal, a well-known crypto trader and investor, has joined the debate on the dominance of Ethereum and Solana. Pal compares the two blockchains by comparing Solana with the "Apple" and Ethereum to "Android." The analogy comes from the fact that Solana is known for its exceptional performance, similar to Apple. Ethereum's wide range of hosted dApps is more comparable to Android due to its vast ecosystem.

It seems that Solana is the clear winner when it comes to the preference of traders for the two blockchains. Pal claims that Solana is capable of doing almost anything Ethereum can. Pal said that Solana "feels super-fast, slick and inviting for the user". He also gushed over the ingenious design of Phantom Wallet, which is the most unhosted Solana Wallet.

The praise of Solana by industry leaders is a testament to the widespread consensus about the cryptocurrency's importance, particularly in light of its price recovery after the FTX event. Raoul Pal and other investors have been impressed by Solana, which has reached its highest price since 2023.

Bybit, third largest crypto exchange in terms of volume, has shared insights on trading trends in crypto based upon the platform's own data. The report "Navigating Bull and Bear Markets - A Dive into User's Allocation" gives a general overview of the strategies used by institutional, VIP and retail investors between December 2022 and September 2023.

The main finding is that institutional investors (INS) have increased their Bitcoin holdings by over two-fold. This group's transition to BTC accelerated in 2023's third quarter. INS allocated about half their portfolio to Bitcoin and Ether at the end of September. The graphs below show that this pattern is quite different from the other two cohorts included in the report.

Retail and VIP traders are moving their money away from leading cryptos and into stablecoins. INS, on the other hand has been deploying stablecoins for BTC in Q3 of 2023. Bybit's report states that retail crypto traders tend to decrease their stablecoin investment during bull markets, and increase them during bear markets or calm periods. This suggests a risk-aversion. INS holders also show good timing when they switch stablecoins into leading cryptos during a downmarket.

Retail investors, who make up all three cohorts, have shown a cautious attitude towards altcoins. However, in July they experienced a sudden shift in mood, and increased the share of altcoins in their wallets to over 40%. Investors from institutions consistently have little faith in the performance of altcoins, with a clear downward trend - except for a small spike in July.