Crypto Heist Hit Record $2.7 Billion in 2025 as Hacker Attacks Surge

Hackers plundered a record $2.7 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025, driven by a surge in sophisticated digital operations and high-profile breaches of centralized exchanges, according to data released by blockchain intelligence firms.

The annual total marks the third consecutive year of escalating digital asset theft, surpassing the $2.2 billion recorded in 2024. Despite a decrease in the overall number of individual security incidents, the average value per heist rose sharply as attackers shifted their focus toward high-liquidity targets.

According to reports from Chainalysis, organized cybercriminal groups were responsible for more than $2 billion of the total stolen funds. The findings underscore the continued reliance on cybercrime to generate illicit revenue streams.

“The 2025 data reveals a shift in tactics,” said a spokesperson for TRM Labs. “We are seeing fewer, more targeted attacks that yield significantly higher returns. Attackers are moving away from simple code vulnerabilities and focusing on infrastructure-level compromises.”

The year’s largest single incident occurred in mid-2025 with the breach of a major international exchange. Attackers exploited a flaw in the platform’s infrastructure to siphon off approximately $1.4 billion in various tokens. Blockchain investigators later traced a majority of those funds to wallets associated with known high-level hacking collectives.

While decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms were the primary targets in previous years, 2025 saw a renewed focus on centralized services. Private key compromises and sophisticated social engineering campaigns against exchange employees accounted for nearly half of the year’s total losses.

Security researchers also noted an increase in “supply chain” vulnerabilities, where hackers infiltrate the software providers used by digital asset firms to gain backdoor access to multiple systems simultaneously.

In response to the record losses, international authorities have intensified scrutiny. Regulatory bodies and global law enforcement agencies have stepped up efforts to monitor cryptocurrency mixers and other obfuscation tools used to launder stolen assets.

“While exchanges are hardening their defenses with multi-party computation and real-time monitoring, the sheer size of liquidity pools remains a magnet for well-resourced attackers,” the Chainalysis report stated.

Despite the record dollar amount stolen, industry analysts pointed to some signs of progress. Enhanced cooperation between exchanges and stablecoin issuers enabled the "freezing" of hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen tokens before they could be liquidated, resulting in a steadily improving recovery rate since 2023.