The crypto industry has set an anti-record for the number of hacks: 83 incidents in a quarter
The second quarter of 2026 became the most "fruitful" for cyberattacks in the history of the cryptocurrency industry. Analysts recorded 83 protocol hacks — an absolute record in terms of the number of incidents. However, the total damage was relatively modest at $755.3 million, indicating a shift in the nature of the threats.
The largest attacks were the KelpDAO hack for $293 million and the Drift Protocol exploit for $280 million. In the cross-chain bridge segment, losses reached $351 million, with 38% of this amount attributed to the incident involving the LayerZero OFT bridge, which is linked to the KelpDAO attack. Another 37% of the damage was caused by compromised administrative access and token price manipulation. Contrary to expectations, private key theft accounted for only 5.66% of total losses.
Despite the record number of incidents, this quarter was not the most expensive in terms of damage volume. The leader remains the fourth quarter of 2020, when losses amounted to $3.56 billion. This suggests that hackers have shifted from "giga-exploits" to more frequent but less large-scale attacks.
Experts attribute this trend to a decline in overall liquidity within the ecosystem. The total value locked (TVL) decreased from $164 billion to approximately $73 billion, making large targets less attractive. However, the gap between the speed of protocol development and the maturity of their risk management systems remains critical. A striking example is projects using a "three-of-six" multi-signature scheme but storing three keys on a single laptop. This is blatant negligence that inevitably leads to losses.
In May, THORChain developers confirmed a $10 million hack of the cross-chain protocol, after which they suspended the service. And on June 8, unknown attackers compromised wallets associated with Humanity Protocol, causing $31 million in damage.
My analysis: The increase in the number of hacks alongside a decrease in average damage is an alarming signal. It indicates that the industry is becoming more vulnerable to mass but less sophisticated attacks. Investors and developers should prioritize basic security measures rather than chasing innovations at the expense of protection.