The second quarter of 2026 set a record for the number of hacker attacks on crypto protocols: 83 incidents and $755 million in damages.
The second quarter of 2026 became the most "fruitful" for hackers in the history of the crypto industry in terms of the number of attacks. Analysts recorded 83 hacks of various protocols, which is an absolute anti-record. The total damage from these incidents amounted to $755.3 million. This is not the highest figure in terms of loss volume — the record is still held by the fourth quarter of 2020 with $3.56 billion — but the frequency of attacks is causing serious concern.
Key Incidents and Trends
The largest attacks of the quarter were the hack of the KelpDAO protocol for $293 million and the Drift Protocol exploit for $280 million. Interestingly, the cross-chain bridge segment suffered $351 million in damages, of which 38% came from the incident with the LayerZero OFT bridge, which was linked to the attack on KelpDAO. Another 37% of losses came from compromised administrative access and token price manipulation, while private key theft accounted for only 5.66% of the total.
This quarter demonstrates a shift in attackers' tactics: instead of isolated but large-scale hacks, we are seeing a constant stream of smaller attacks. Dmitry Tarasyuk, Director of Product at CORE3 and CER.live, links this trend to a sharp decline in overall liquidity within the ecosystem. TVL (Total Value Locked) fell from $164 billion to approximately $73 billion, making large targets less accessible. However, this does not make the industry safer — rather, hackers are adapting to new conditions.
Security Issues and Examples
Tarasyuk also pointed to a critical gap between the speed of protocol development and the maturity of their risk management systems. As an example, he cited projects using a "three out of six" multi-signature scheme but storing three keys on a single laptop. This is flagrant negligence that makes protocols easy prey. In May, THORChain developers confirmed a $10 million hack, after which they suspended the protocol, blocking trading options and liquidity pools. And on June 8, unknown parties compromised Humanity Protocol wallets, estimating the damage at $31 million.
My professional opinion: The record number of attacks amid a decrease in total damage is an alarming signal. It points to risk fragmentation and insufficient security at the infrastructure level. Until project teams begin to prioritize auditing and risk management over the speed of bringing products to market, we will continue to see this trend. Investors should be especially cautious and thoroughly check protocol security before investing funds.