More than $2 billion in crypto has been lost due to attacks in the first quarter of 2025.
According to a report shared by cybersecurity company Hacken, in Q1 2025, nearly $1.63 billion was lost solely due to access control vulnerabilities.
Anmol Jain, vice president of investigations at forensic firm AMLBot, stated that the unusually high figure was mainly due to the recent Bybit exchange attack.
This data mirrors the data recently shared by cybersecurity firm PeckShield. PeckShield's report does not include scams, showing that crypto attacks caused $1.6 billion in damages in Q1 2025.
Total damage from attacks in Q1 2025 by category | Source: Hacken
A report at the end of February indicated that North Korean hackers behind the $1.4 billion Bybit attack had controlled over 11,000 crypto wallets used to launder the stolen funds. The involvement of agents from North Korea indicates increasing sophistication and scale.
This attack significantly impacted the figures for this quarter, especially when the entire year of 2024 only saw total damages of $2.25 billion.
“Securing digital assets requires much more than just protecting on-chain code. The entire infrastructure, from front-end interfaces to internal processes, must be reinforced, as a single vulnerability can compromise the entire system.”
No one is safe
Hacken's report highlights that, in recent months, “even the largest centralized and decentralized companies have become victims of operational errors, access control vulnerabilities, and in some cases, non-technical attack behaviors.”
This quarter saw no notable new exploits, “instead, hackers focused on existing attack vectors.”
The report also further emphasizes that, while smart contract vulnerabilities remain a persistent issue, “most current damages are due to human error, process, or licensing system faults.”
This is also the third consecutive quarter witnessing a major exploit related to multi-signature wallets.
ByBit hackers breached the Safe Wallet interface. Previous attacks involving the deployment or management of multi-signature wallets include the Radiant Capital attack in Q4 2024 and WazirX in Q3 2024.
The crypto scam industry
Scams have also caused widespread damage, with Hacken's data showing that investors lost $96.37 million due to online scams and $300 million due to rug pulls.
Jain also highlighted a worrying trend as crypto scams are gradually becoming an industry:
“The most worrying trend is the professionalization of fraud networks, where criminals operate like a startup company, including 'training programs' for scammers, internal quotas, and multi-stage money laundering programs, using platforms like Huione Pay.”
This statement comes after reports in mid-January 2025 indicating that Huione, often described as “the largest online black market ever to operate,” emphasized that the service has seen its monthly cash flow increase by 51% in just six months.
This growth comes after the launch of a stablecoin pegged to the USD and financial services dedicated to illegal activities.
Anmol emphasized that, “most pig slaughter scams originate from cybercrime syndicates in Southeast Asia,” with many cases located in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand. The operators also often “recruit” young people from human trafficking networks in India, Nepal, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Investors should conduct thorough research before making decisions. We are not responsible for your investment decisions.
