Crypto Hacks Skyrocket in H1 2025—$184M Recovered by CertiK as Losses Dwarf 2024

Crypto’s Wild West Just Got Wilder

Hackers are having a field day in 2025—CertiK’s latest report shows $184M clawed back so far, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This year’s heists already outpace 2024’s total losses, proving once again that blockchain’s ‘trustless’ utopia still relies on old-school security firms to clean up the mess.

Where’s the Money Going?

DeFi protocols remain the juiciest targets, with cross-chain bridges acting as digital highway robbery hotspots. Meanwhile, exchanges keep pretending their ‘airtight’ security can’t be cracked—right before another 8-figure breach makes headlines.

The Silver Lining Playbook

CertiK’s recovery stats suggest white-hats are getting faster at freezing stolen funds. Too bad they’re playing whack-a-mole against hackers who’ve apparently been studying the same smart contract audits they’re bypassing.

Wall Street’s Take: ‘Risk Assets Gonna Risk’

As traditional finance vultures circle yet another ‘crypto crisis,’ remember—these are the same institutions that still can’t detect check fraud. At least blockchain transactions come with a public paper trail… when they’re not being siphoned into mixer services, that is.

Thus far in 2025, on-chain incidents have led to ~$2.1B in losses.

The majority of losses have come from wallet compromises and phishing, with an increase in data leaks its important to remain vigilant. pic.twitter.com/Cjm6QFHWqX

— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) May 23, 2025

Phishing attacks entail crypto scammers sharing deceptive links with the victims to get hold of their sensitive information, such as private keys to crypto wallets, etc.

Ronghui Gu, the co-founder of CertiK, believes that the rise in phishing attacks that socially engineer victims to share sensitive information alludes to crypto scammers changing their attack protocols.

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Trend of Wallet Breaches Becomes Alarming

The report suggests that between January and June of 2025, crypto hackers carried out 334 attacks, amounting to a loss of $2.47 billion. Amongst these incidents, wallet breaches alone accounted for $1.7 billion from just 34 attacks.

While CertiK has noted that private key compromises are on the decline, it has called the trend of wallet breaches “alarming.”

Social engineering schemes have become a major threat. Schemes such as address poisoning do not require any hacking since the victim is tricked into sending assets to fraudulent wallet addresses. Case in point, a Bitcoin whale falling victim to a phishing scam on 30 April 2025, that cost him an eye-watering $330 million loss.

Discounting the high-profile attacks on these two exchanges brings total losses to about $690 million, which is quite similar to last year, with ethereum being the most targeted blockchain, witnessing 175 security-related events, accounting for over $1.6 billion in losses.

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Crypto Hacks Exploit Code Vulnerabilities

CertiK reported a dramatic rise in crypto losses driven by smart contract flaws in May, raking $229 million in damages, up from just $5 million in April.

1/Top threats in Q2:

• Phishing – $395M
• Code vulnerabilities – $236M
• Wallet compromise – $112M

Despite the losses, total incidents dropped by 29% QoQ.

— CertiK (@CertiK) June 30, 2025

As scams and hacks surge, physical attacks on private crypto holders are growing more brutal. According to Jameson Lopp, a bitcoin security advocate, this year has already seen reports of 32 wrench attacks (physical attacks), putting 2025 on track to surpass 2021’s record of 36. Nearly one-third occurred in France.

In May alone, French authorities arrested 25 suspects tied to a Paris-based kidnapping ring.

Notable cases include the January kidnapping and mutilation of Ledger co-founder David Balland during a failed ransom attempt, impostors posing as couriers abducted a trader’s father, severed a finger, and demanded €7 million, kidnappers attempted to take Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat’s daughter and grandson, and abductors in Las Vegas drove the victim into the Arizona desert.

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Key Takeaways

• Crypto hackers are now socially engineering victims to gain access to sensitive information
• Investors have lost more than $2.2B to crypto scams in H1 2025
• Between January and June of 2025, crypto hackers carried out 334 attacks that amounted to a loss of $2.47 billion