The second quarter of 2026 set an anti-record for the number of hacks in the crypto industry: 83 incidents and $755 million in damages.
The second quarter of 2026 became the most "fruitful" for hacker attacks in the history of the crypto industry. Analysts recorded 83 protocol hacks — an absolute record in terms of the number of incidents. The total damage from these attacks reached $755.3 million, which, however, is not an all-time high in terms of monetary losses.
Attack Structure: Small Targets, Major Consequences
The key trend of the quarter is a shift in focus from isolated giant exploits to a series of smaller but more frequent attacks. The largest incidents were the hack of KelpDAO for $293 million and the exploit of Drift Protocol for $280 million. In the cross-chain bridge segment, damage amounted to $351 million, with 38% of that attributed to an attack involving the LayerZero OFT bridge, which turned out to be part of the KelpDAO hack. Another 37% of losses were caused by compromised administrative access and token price manipulation. Private key theft, contrary to expectations, accounted for only 5.66% of the total amount.
Why Is the Number of Hacks Rising, but Damage Is Not?
Despite the record number of attacks, the total volume of losses is significantly lower than peak figures. The all-time high in hack costs still belongs to the fourth quarter of 2020 — $3.56 billion. This paradox is explained by a sharp reduction in liquidity within the ecosystem. The total value locked (TVL) fell from $164 billion to approximately $73 billion, making targets less "lucrative" for hackers.
However, the problem runs deeper. There is a critical gap between the pace of protocol development and the maturity of their risk management systems. For example, some projects use a "three out of six" multi-signature scheme but store three keys on a single laptop. This is not negligence — it is a systemic flaw that makes protocols vulnerable even to unsophisticated attacks.
Specific Cases and Consequences
In May, developers of THORChain confirmed a hack of the cross-chain protocol for $10 million. After the incident, the protocol's operations were completely suspended: trading, liquidity pool operations, and other "sensitive" functions became unavailable. On June 8, unknown parties compromised wallets associated with the Humanity Protocol project, causing damage of approximately $31 million.
My analysis: The rise in the number of attacks alongside a decline in total damage is a warning sign for the industry. It indicates that hackers are adapting faster than developers are implementing protective mechanisms. As projects race to market, security remains a secondary concern. If this trend continues, we risk not just an increase in the number of incidents, but a return of major exploits once liquidity recovers.