2025 Crypto Theft Shatters Records: $4B Lost & Still No End in Sight! 💸🔥

Oh, the audacity of this year! 🤯 Crypto-related theft has reached such heights that even the most jaded of us are left speechless. According to PeckShield, the losses soared to a staggering $4.04 billion, a 34% leap from last year’s already dismal figure. What marvels of modernity! 🧠

Behold, the patterns of theft have shifted! No longer are we plagued by a multitude of small skirmishes, but rather grand, sweeping raids. Crypto hacks, those villains of the digital realm, stole $2.67 billion, while scams, ever cunning, amassed $1.37 billion. A 64% increase, no less! 🕵️‍♂️

#PeckShieldAlert 2025 has witnessed a record-breaking year for crypto-related theft, driven primarily by systemic vulnerabilities in centralized infrastructure and a strategic shift toward targeted social engineering. 📢

The total loss in 2025 exceeded $4.04B, reflecting a ~34.2%…

– PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) January 13, 2026

Alas, only $334.9 million of stolen funds were recovered, a mere fraction of the previous year’s $488.5 million. The funds, like mischievous spirits, vanished through bridges and mixers. 🧙‍♂️

Monthly data reveals February as the most notorious month, with $1.77 billion stolen in the Bybit breach. May and April followed, their thefts a mere shadow of February’s glory. 📅

Bybit Breach: The Largest Incident of 2025

The largest theft of the year, a feat of audacity, was the Bybit breach. The hackers, with a private key in hand, stole $1.4 billion. A triumph of greed, if ever there was one! 🕵️‍♂️

Other major breaches include Cetus decentralized exchange, which lost $223 million in May. In November, Ethereum-based protocol Balancer also suffered a $128 million exploit. A symphony of chaos! 🎶

Together, these large incidents accounted for a large share of total annual losses. A true testament to the ingenuity of thieves! 🧨

North Korea Leads Threat Activity

North Korean-linked actors, those enigmatic marauders, were the dominant source of crypto thefts last year. According to Chainalysis, they stole at least $2.02 billion in digital assets in 2025, a 51% increase from the previous year. A veritable gold rush! 🇰🇵

These attacks represented about 76% of all service-related breaches. The cumulative estimate of funds stolen by North Korea now stands near $6.75 billion. A treasure trove of mischief! 🏴‍☠️

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2026-01-13 15:23