The Finbold report highlights a significant surge in cryptocurrency security breaches, noting that hackers successfully drained approximately $2.78 billion in 2025. This figure underscores a volatile year for digital assets, where a few high-magnitude events dramatically skewed the total losses.
Key Drivers of 2025 Losses
The massive $2.78 billion total was largely driven by a handful of catastrophic incidents rather than a high frequency of small attacks:
* The Bybit Breach: The defining event of the year was the $1.5 billion hack of a Bybit cold wallet in February. This single incident accounted for over 54% of the total funds stolen in 2025 and is considered the largest single hack in crypto history.
* North Korean Involvement: State-sponsored actors, particularly from the DPRK, were linked to over $2 billion of the total stolen funds across the industry, indicating more sophisticated, high-value targeting.
* Shift in Attack Vectors: While DeFi protocols saw improved security, attackers pivoted toward centralized exchange (CEX) infrastructure and personal wallet compromises, the latter of which affected over 150,000 individual incidents.
Quarterly Breakdown
The 2025 data shows a "front-loaded" year of theft, with the majority of damage occurring in the first few months:
* Q1 2025: ~$1.77 billion (dominated by Bybit).
* Q2 2025: ~$465 million.
* Q3 2025: ~$307 million.
* Q4 2025: ~$238 million (estimated based on year-end totals of $2.78B - $3.4B from various reporting agencies).
Comparison to Previous Years
| Year | Total Stolen (USD) | Notable Trend |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $2.78 Billion | Highest single-event impact (Bybit); DPRK dominance. |
| 2024 | ~$2.20 Billion | Steady rise in DeFi exploits. |
| 2023 | ~$1.70 Billion | Focus on bridge exploits and smart contract bugs. |
> Note: While Finbold reported $2.78 billion, other firms like Chainalysis estimated the total closer to $3.4 billion by early December, likely due to differing methodologies in how they track "private wallet" thefts versus "service" hacks.
