Cryptocurrency Theft Hits Record $2.7 Billion in 2025

New Record in Cyber Attacks The year 2025 has become a period of deepening security crises for cryptocurrency exchanges and the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
The total amount stolen in cyber attacks throughout the year reached $2.7 billion, setting a new record.
This figure surpasses the $2.2 billion lost in 2024 and the $2 billion in 2023, indicating that cyber threats are gaining momentum.
The Bybit Attack and Historic Losses The largest and most shocking operation of the year was carried out against the Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit.
Hackers seized approximately $1.4 billion worth of assets in a single attack, sparking a major security debate within the industry.
This heist surpassed the 2022 Ronin Network ($624 million) and Poly Network ($611 million) attacks, going down as one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in history.
North Korean Connection and DeFi Targets According to reports from analysis firm Elliptic, a significant portion of these attacks are linked to North Korean cybercrime groups.
Data estimates that these groups have carried out a total of $6 billion in cryptocurrency thefts since 2017.
Other major losses in 2025 included the following platforms: Cetus decentralized exchange: $223 million Balancer protocol: $128 million Phemex exchange: $73 million Experts warn that structural vulnerabilities in Web3 and DeFi protocols will continue to be primary targets for cybercriminals.