Crypto Platforms Lost $3.63B to Hacking Attacks since the Start of 2025 — CoinGecko

Published: August 27, 2026 – 14:40 UTC

CoinGecko has revealed the scale of crypto platform losses to hackers.
Over 19 months, losses totaled $3.63 billion.
Meanwhile, crypto audits are not helping, and crypto insurance is shrinking.

Crypto platforms lost $3.63 billion across 245 documented incidents from January 2025 to July 2026, according to CoinGecko’s State of Crypto Security Report 2026, published in August.

The biggest threats were supply chain attacks, smart contract exploits, and private key compromises, while traditional audits failed to cover a significant share of attack vectors.

*Breakdown of crypto exploits by attack vector (2025-2026). Source:* *CoinGecko*.

Most Losses Came From the Biggest Attacks

According to CoinGecko, 245 incidents were recorded over 19 months, and the 10 largest attacks accounted for more than 72.5% of the total amount stolen.

The biggest losses were linked to infrastructure and supply chain vulnerabilities — more than $1.8 billion. Among the most notable cases, researchers highlighted attacks on Bybit and KelpDAO.

At the same time, the nature of threats varies by platform type:

For centralized exchanges (CEX), the main issue remains private key compromise
Decentralized applications (dApps) lost about $546 million due to smart contract exploits
A separate threat comes from oracle and price manipulation, which led to losses at Bitget, Binance, and Hyperliquid

Among specific examples of attacks, CoinGecko also cited the hack of Cetus Protocol — $223 million, and Balancer — $128 million.

Audit Does Not Guarantee Protection

The study also highlighted the limitations of traditional security audits. Of 245 incidents, 147 involved protocols that had already undergone an independent audit before the attack. These projects accounted for 88.44% of all stolen funds.

*Protocol vulnerabilities in audited vs. unaudited projects (January 2025 — July 2026). Source:* *CoinGecko*.

At the same time, only about 11% of attacks were directly linked to smart contract vulnerabilities that fall within the standard scope of an audit. The remaining incidents often involved external infrastructure, unaudited code updates, protocol governance, or social engineering.

Therefore, passing an audit on its own does not guarantee protection against private key compromise, infrastructure attacks, or other systemic risks.

Crypto Insurance Is Shrinking Despite the Rise in Attacks

Against the backdrop of a growing number of exploits, the amount of active insurance coverage has also declined. According to CoinGecko, it fell by 20.2% across leading crypto insurance protocols — from $163.2 million to $130.2 million.

Aggregate payouts, meanwhile, remained at around $33 million. Researchers attribute the decline to the high risks of the crypto market, which reduce users’ willingness to provide capital or buy coverage at higher prices.

As of August 2026, five of the nine onchain insurance protocols had shut down or shifted their focus.

Against this backdrop, centralized exchanges are increasingly setting up their own reserve funds to compensate users in the event of incidents. In particular, the report cites:

Binance SAFU — around $1.16 billion
Bitget Protection Fund — around $423.6 million
BingX Shield Fund — around $126.7 million
MEXC Guardian Fund — around $101.5 million
WEEX Protection Fund — around $77.1 million
Toobit Shield Fund — around $40.2 million

Recall that, according to CertiK, in 2025, attackers stole $3.3 billion, while Global Ledger reported more than $4 billion in losses from crypto hacks in 2025.

Сообщение Crypto Platforms Lost $3.63B to Hacking Attacks since the Start of 2025 — CoinGecko появились сначала на INCRYPTED.

Source: Incrypted