Cyberattacks on Digital Assets Surge in 2025 as Stolen Funds Jump 46%
The global crypto industry faced a turbulent year in 2025 as digital-asset breaches escalated sharply, despite fewer reported incidents, according to new annual security assessments from blockchain security firm SlowMist.
The company’s “2025 Blockchain Security and Anti–Money Laundering Report” reveals that losses from crypto hacks surged 46% year-over-year, highlighting the growing sophistication and scale of cyberattacks targeting the sector.
Fewer hacks, bigger losses
SlowMist found that total stolen funds reached $2.935 billion in 2025, up from $2.013 billion in 2024, even though the number of breaches dropped significantly, from 410 attacks last year to 200 in 2025.
Chainalysis’ separate review of the first half of 2025 reached a similar conclusion: while hack frequency has declined, the magnitude of individual attacks is climbing, leading to a more severe financial impact than seen in previous years.
DeFi remains the prime target, but losses shrink
Decentralized finance (DeFi) continued to be the most targeted segment, recording 126 security incidents, or 63% of all attacks this year. However, DeFi-related losses fell to $649 million, a steep decline from $1.029 billion in 2024.
Analysts say the drop reflects stronger risk controls across major protocols, but attackers are now shifting toward high-value centralized platforms.
Centralized exchanges suffer the costliest breaches
Centralized exchanges (CEXs) logged just 22 incidents, yet accounted for a staggering $1.809 billion in losses.
The year’s most catastrophic breach involved Bybit, where attackers drained $1.46 billion, representing the majority of CEX losses for 2025.
Phishing becomes attackers’ preferred weapon
Phishing schemes were the most widely used attack method this year. SlowMist noted that scammers increasingly deploy multi-layered, blended strategies, making fraudulent operations harder to detect and mitigate.
Nearly $400M recovered or frozen
Despite the surge in losses, 2025 also saw notable progress in clawing back stolen funds.
Across 18 recovery cases, authorities and cybersecurity firms managed to retrieve or freeze roughly $387 million, reducing net losses to around $1.95 billion.
A sector under pressure, but more prepared
The overlapping reports paint a dual narrative: crypto platforms are facing more advanced adversaries, but industry-wide security practices are maturing. Faster incident responses, better auditing standards, and improved consumer education are helping contain damage.
Experts warn that as attack techniques evolve, the industry must continue investing in proactive security, real-time threat detection, and cross-border coordination to safeguard digital-asset markets in 2026 and beyond.
