The crypto industry set an anti-record for the number of hacks in the second quarter of 2026.
The second quarter of 2026 became the most "fruitful" for hacker attacks in the history of the crypto industry. Analysts recorded 83 incidents, an absolute record in terms of the number of hacks. The total damage from these attacks reached $755.3 million.
Key Events and Trends
Among the most high-profile incidents are the hack of the KelpDAO protocol for $293 million and the Drift Protocol exploit for $280 million. These two attacks account for a significant portion of the total damage. Notably, the cross-chain bridge segment suffered the largest losses — $351 million, of which 38% came from the incident involving the LayerZero OFT bridge, linked to the attack on KelpDAO. Another 37% of the damage was attributed to administrative access compromise and token price manipulation. Theft of private keys, contrary to expectations, accounted for only 5.66% of the total.
Paradox: Less Liquidity, More Attacks
Despite the record number of hacks, the second quarter of 2026 was not the most expensive in terms of loss volume. This "title" is still held by the fourth quarter of 2020, with damages of $3.56 billion. Dmitry Tarasyuk, Product Director at CORE3 and CER.live, explains this trend by a decline in overall liquidity within the ecosystem. According to his data, the total value locked (TVL) decreased from $164 billion to approximately $73 billion. At the same time, the pace of protocol development significantly outpaces the maturity of their risk management systems. As an example, he cites projects using a "three-of-six" multi-signature scheme but storing three keys on a single laptop.
Consequences and Reactions
In May, the THORChain team confirmed a hack of its cross-chain protocol for $10 million, after which it suspended operations, disabling trading, liquidity pool operations, and other sensitive actions. On June 8, unknown attackers compromised wallets associated with the Humanity Protocol project, causing damage of approximately $31 million.
My expert opinion: The trend of an increasing number of attacks but a decreasing average size is an alarming signal. It points to a systemic problem: security in the industry is still perceived as an option, not a fundamental foundation. As protocols race to market, hackers find more and more loopholes, and this gap will only widen.