The number of hacks has reached a record high, but the damage is smaller: the paradox of the second quarter of 2026
The second quarter of 2026 went down in crypto industry history as the most "fruitful" for hacks. Analysts recorded 83 incidents — an absolute record for all time. However, total losses amounted to $755.3 million, significantly lower than the peak values of previous years. This contrast indicates a fundamental shift in the structure of attacks.
The largest incidents of the quarter were the hack of the KelpDAO protocol for $293 million and the Drift Protocol exploit, which cost $280 million. The cross-chain bridge segment is particularly alarming: it accounted for $351 million in losses, or 46.5% of the total. Of these, 38% are linked to the attack on the LayerZero OFT bridge, which, according to investigators, was part of the KelpDAO hack. Another 37% of the damage came from compromised administrative access and token price manipulation. Private key theft, contrary to expectations, accounted for only 5.66% of the total.
The paradox is that, in terms of loss volume, the second quarter of 2026 did not even make it into the top three worst. The absolute anti-record for hack value is still held by the fourth quarter of 2020 — $3.56 billion. At that time, the market was on the rise, liquidity was abundant, and hackers could steal hundreds of millions in a single attack.
Now the picture is different. Total value locked (TVL) in DeFi has dropped from $164 billion to approximately $73 billion. As Dmitry Tarasyuk, Product Director at CORE3 and CER.live, rightly noted, there is less liquidity in the ecosystem to attack. But the main problem is not the volume of funds, but the maturity of security systems. Many projects still use primitive multisignature schemes, such as "three out of six," but store three keys on one laptop. This is not security, but an illusion.
Among the notable incidents of the quarter was the hack of the cross-chain protocol THORChain for $10 million in May, after which the team paused the network's operations. And in early June, unknown attackers compromised wallets associated with Humanity Protocol, causing $31 million in damages.
My view on the situation: The increase in the number of small and medium-sized attacks, while total damage decreases, is a worrying signal. This indicates that hackers are adapting faster than developers are implementing protection. As long as the industry chases product speed while ignoring basic security principles, we risk seeing not just a record in the number of hacks, but a real epidemic.