Crypto losses near $3.4B as hackers went ‘big game hunting’

Three major incidents accounted for the majority of crypto losses in 2025, while upgraded security across DeFi protocols managed to keep hackers at bay, according to Chainalysis.

Crypto hackers focused on large crypto entities and personal crypto wallets this year, resulting in $3.4 billion in crypto losses in 2025 — the highest figure since 2022.

Just three hacks in 2025, led by the $1.4 billion hack of crypto exchange Bybit, accounted for 69% of all losses from January through to early December, a Chainalysis report released on Thursday found, with the largest attacks a thousand times larger than the typical incident. 

Andrew Fierman, the head of national security intelligence at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that while massive attacks drove this year’s uptick in losses, it’s unclear if 2026 will unfold in the same way.

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