In the first quarter of 2025, losses from attacks on cryptocurrency projects reached $1.63 billion.
According to a report by leading blockchain security company PeckShield, there were more than 60 breaches in the crypto sector in the first three months of the year.
According to experts, in March 2025, 20 attacks on crypto projects were recorded with losses of $33.46 million. Experts also noted that in the first quarter of this year, the amount of losses was 131% higher compared to $706 million for the same period in 2024.
PeckShield also talked about five cyber incidents in March 2025. These are Abracadabra.money — $13 million, Zoth — $8.32 million, 1inch — $5 million (90% of funds returned), Hyperliquid — $4 million, and WeKey — $700,000.
It is worth noting that in February 2025, losses from hacker attacks also reached record levels - $1.51 billion. This figure exceeded previous anti-records recorded during major attacks on DeFi protocols in 2022. Record losses were then suffered by the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, which lost more than $1.43 billion as a result of a hacker raid. The increase in the number of attacks is associated with the increased interest of hackers in centralized exchanges and second-level protocols, as well as with the complexity of the methods they use. An increase in the number of phishing attacks, smart contract exploits, and hot wallet hacks was also noted.
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As a reminder, North Korea recently became the third largest holder of Bitcoin in the world after its hackers converted stolen Ethereum into Bitcoin. North Korea currently holds 13,580 BTC, worth an estimated $1.14 billion. This puts the country above El Salvador and Bhutan in terms of the number of government-owned Bitcoins. The attack on cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, which was the largest hack in the history of the crypto industry, is just one of many cases in which North Korean hackers have stolen significant amounts of cryptocurrency. Such activity highlights North Korea’s role in using cryptocurrencies to circumvent international sanctions and fund state programs.
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