Crypto industry lost $22.7bn in scams and hacks since 2011

Ethereum is the digital token most frequently targeted by criminals, new report finds

There were a handful of high-value thefts this year, most notably the $1.5 billion Bybit exploit in February 2025. Bloomberg

The cryptocurrency industry has lost $22.7 billion in scams and hacks since 2011, according to a new report by blockchain analytics platform Crystal Intelligence.

There were more than 1,000 confirmed incidents involving decentralised finance (DeFi) hacks, fraud and security breaches, with Ethereum the most frequently targeted crypto, the research found.

Ethereum was also the most targeted asset in 2024-2025, involved in 98 incidents totalling $2 billion in losses. It was central to the largest thefts, most frauds, and nearly all mixer-based laundering activity.

“While Bitcoin and Solana also appeared frequently, ETH’s deep integration across DeFi and infrastructure layers makes it a recurring focus for attackers,” the report said.

There has been declining incident volume alongside rising financial losses over the 12-month period from April 2024 to March 2025. During this time, 184 incidents were recorded – a 44 per cent drop from the year before – but the total value stolen increased by 33 per cent to reach $3.6 billion, the data revealed.

This shift was driven in large part by a handful of high-value thefts, most notably the $1.5 billion Bybit exploit in February 2025. That single incident – the largest crypto theft yet recorded – indicates a growing trend towards targeted, sophisticated attacks that cause outsize damage in a short timeframe, according to the report.

Bybit said it was hit by what was the biggest cryptocurrency robbery ever recorded, in which 401,000 Ethereum worth more than $1.5 billion was stolen.

The crime was carried out through a "manipulation of the transfer process, during a planned routine transfer" on one of its cold wallets, the company said. A cold wallet is cryptocurrency storage that is not connected to the internet, shielding it from the possibility of theft or hacks.

The US's Federal Bureau of Investigation said North Korea was responsible for the theft.

“Attackers exploit reduced oversight to maximise exit time,” Nick Smart, chief intelligence officer at Crystal Intelligence, said.

“Crypto crime has entered a new phase, one defined less by volume and more by the scale and sophistication of individual incidents.”

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Cryptocurrency scams generated at least $9.9 billion on-chain, meaning those that occur on the blockchain and have been reflected on the public ledger, last year, according to February data provided by blockchain company Chainalysis.

Stablecoins now account for 63 per cent of all illicit transaction volumes, a separate Crypto Crime report by Chainalysis found in January. Until 2021, Bitcoin was unequivocally the cryptocurrency of choice among cyber criminals, probably due to its high liquidity, Chainalysis’s report said.

The US recorded the most incidents with 40 crypto thefts worth just over $1 billion, while Hong Kong led by value with 15 thefts worth nearly $1.2 billion, according to the Crystal Intelligence report.

“The 2019 Plus Token fraud still leads the list at $2.9 billion, underscoring how early Ponzi-style schemes set the bar for losses. But the 2025 ByBit breach marks a dangerous evolution. Not only is it the third largest, but it's also the most recent and highly sophisticated, involving private key compromise and cross-chain laundering,” the study said.

Security breaches accounted for 56 cases in 2024/25, resulting in $2.5 billion in losses – nearly 70 per cent of the annual total. While these incidents made up 30 per cent of all attacks, they were disproportionately costly, Crystal Intelligence’s data showed.

DeFi breaches saw a decline in both frequency and value. There were 75 incidents totalling $372.8 million, a significant drop from $577.5 million the year prior.

Fraud incidents, including investment scams and address manipulation schemes, dropped sharply to 53 cases. However, total fraud losses still reached $716 million, making it the second most expensive attack type.

The report called for greater industry collaboration in real-time response to large-scale incidents and enhanced wallet behaviour monitoring to flag laundering through mixers or cross-chain bridges.