According to analysts, dozens of cryptocurrency heists occurred in 2025, affecting several exchanges and other Web3 and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.
The worst crime occurred at the Bybit crypto exchange, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where hackers stole about $1.4 billion. Blockchain analysts and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) blamed hackers from the North Korean government – the most active group to attack cryptocurrency in recent years. According to TechCrunch, this theft became the most famous in the history of cryptocurrencies and one of the “greatest financial heists in human history.”
Other major cyberattacks this year:
- decentralized exchange Cetus – $223 million stolen;
- Balancer protocol on the Ethereum blockchain – $128 million in losses;
- crypto exchange Phemex – more than $73 million stolen.
According to estimates from Chainalysis, TRM Labs and De.Fi, the total amount of stolen cryptocurrency in 2025 was $2.7 billion. Chainalysis also tracked another $700 thousand stolen from individual crypto wallets, the material says.
Cybercriminals are not slowing down: $2.2 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen in 2024, and $2 billion in 2023, TechCrunch notes.
