$2.1 Billion in Crypto Market Losses Linked to Hacks in First Half of 2025

In the first half of 2025, criminals stole $2.1 billion from the cryptocurrency sector, as reported by TRM Labs.

Over 80% of these losses stemmed from attacks on infrastructure, which included the theft of private keys, seed phrases, and front-end substitution. Cybercriminals frequently employed social engineering tactics or insider information. According to TRM Labs, the average loss from these incidents was ten times greater than that from other types of breaches.

An additional 12% of losses were attributed to vulnerabilities in DeFi protocols, with attacks utilizing flash loans and reentrancy exploits.

The total losses for the first six months of 2025 nearly matched the entire amount lost during 2024 and exceeded the record for the first half of 2022 by 10%. A significant contributor to this figure was the February breach of the Bybit exchange, which amounted to $1.5 billion. Analysts from noted a connection to North Korean hackers. This incident raised the average loss per attack to $30 million, doubling the amount from the previous year.

TRM Labs estimates that North Korea-linked groups accounted for $1.6 billion, representing 70% of the total losses for the half-year period. The report also highlighted the June hack of the Iranian exchange Nobitex, claimed by the pro-Israeli group Gonjeshke Darande, which released the platform’s source code.

Analysts urged projects to bolster their security measures. Recommendations included implementing multi-factor authentication, enhancing cold storage practices, and addressing insider threats. The importance of international cooperation among law enforcement agencies and coordination within the industry was also stressed.

«The unprecedented thefts in the first half of 2025 serve as a wake-up call for the establishment of a collaborative and strategically refined security system,» concluded TRM Labs.

It is worth mentioning that in the first quarter, cybercriminals stole $1.64 billion across 40 incidents.

In May, the total damage to the crypto sector from hacks reached $244 million.