Crypto
North Korean Hackers Drive Record $1.1B in On-Chain Exploits
The first half of 2026 saw a significant surge in on-chain security threats, according to Blockaid's H1 2026 Onchain Security Report. The firm verified 212 high-threshold exploits, a 3.4-fold increase over the same period in 2025.
Total dollar losses reached $1.1 billion, with four major incidents accounting for $707 million of those losses. North Korea's 'Trader Traitor' hacking cluster, tied to the Lazarus Group, was responsible for approximately $609 million of overall losses.
The two largest exploits, KelpDAO and Drift Protocol, were both attributed to Trader Traitor. Rather than relying on smart contract bugs, these attacks targeted human and operational vectors, resulting in significant financial losses.