$3.63 Billion Lost: Crypto Industry Suffers Record Security Breaches
The cryptocurrency industry has suffered significant losses due to security breaches since the start of 2025. According to CoinGecko, $3.63 billion was lost between January 2025 and mid-2026. This figure accounts for nearly a quarter of total crypto hack losses since 2016, which now exceed $14.27 billion.
One major incident in 2025 was the Bybit exchange breach, attributed to North Korean actors, which alone accounted for roughly $1.4 to $1.5 billion in losses. If this event is excluded, the remaining 96 incidents from 2025 totaled around $1.1 billion.
The pace of attacks has quickened considerably since the start of 2026. In just seven months, approximately $1.2 billion was lost, with an average loss per incident of $7.3 million. This is significantly lower than the average loss per incident in 2025, which was inflated by the Bybit breach.
The KelpDAO exploit is highlighted as a case study in the CoinGecko report. The incident exploited a vulnerability in a LayerZero bridge and had significant secondary market effects. Tokens like STEP, DRIFT, and BONK experienced sharp price declines following major incidents, even when those specific tokens weren't directly involved.
The types of attacks documented in the report reveal a qualitative shift alongside the quantitative surge. North Korean state-sponsored actors continue to loom large in the data, with attribution to groups associated with Pyongyang found in several incidents.