Flash Loan Attacks Drained $1.2B From DeFi in 2020-2024: Study

The finding matters less as a loss tally than as a trend line: flash loan exploits are being described as more sophisticated and less predictable, which undercuts the assumption that audit coverage and past exploit patterns are sufficient defenses. That affects lending and AMM protocols most directly, since composability is what makes these attacks repeatable. The open question is whether detection and monitoring can keep pace as the playbook keeps shifting.