Crypto Carnage: $2.1B Vanishes in Seed Phrase & Front-End Heists – TRM Labs Exposes the Bleeding

Another day, another crypto bloodbath. TRM Labs just dropped a bombshell report revealing how $2.1B evaporated from digital wallets—not through sophisticated hacks, but old-school seed phrase theft and front-end exploits.

Seed phrases: The Achilles' heel of decentralization

Attackers bypassed encryption entirely, targeting the human element. Phishing scams, fake wallet interfaces, and good ol’ social engineering did the dirty work. Meanwhile, front-end attacks exploited vulnerabilities in dApp interfaces—draining funds before transactions even hit the blockchain.

Finance’s ‘future’ still can’t solve its oldest problem: human greed meeting human error. Maybe next time we’ll invent a blockchain for common sense.

More than 80% of the total crypto thefts in H1 2025 came from just 75 attacks that specifically targeted the core infrastructure of crypto platforms. These included stealing private keys or deceiving users through phishing websites and fraudulent messages. 

According to TRM Labs, these attacks were ten times more effective than other hacking techniques. They often relied on social engineering—a tactic that manipulates victims through trust-building and friendly interactions to gain access to sensitive information.

Another type of attack, known as protocol exploits, was implemented by exploiting the code of blockchain systems by using schemes like “flash loans” or “re-entrancy” to steal money or mess up the system. It has caused up to 12% of the total loss. 

The average hack has resulted in the theft of $30 million, which is twice or as much as the $15 million average in early 2024. A huge $1.5 billion hack by North Korea on the Bybit exchange in Dubai in February caused nearly 70% of the total losses. 

As per the reports, recently, another group, possibly tied to Israel, has stolen $100 million from Iran’s Nobitex exchange. Even without the Bybit hack, four months (January, April, May, and June) have seen over $100 million in theft from the hack. 

The report shows hackers, including state-backed groups, are getting more aggressive and more strategic, which has increased the growing threat to cryptocurrencies. 

TRM Labs has warned that cryptocurrencies are facing an escalating threat from organized groups, some state-backed or politically motivated, who are carrying out highly coordinated attacks to steal digital assets. The firm has urged heightened vigilance across the industry.

Also Read: Hacker Exploits ResupplyFi Bug to Steal $9.6M in Crypto