Fraud in the crypto industry reaches $2.1 billion in six months

According to TRM Labs, in the first six months of 2025, the crypto industry suffered losses of $2.1 billion as a result of hacker attacks. The main damage came from infrastructure hacks – they accounted for over 80% of losses. Attackers used social engineering, insiders, and also stole cid phrases and access keys by tampering with platform interfaces. The average damage from such attacks was 10 times higher than from other types of hacks.

Vulnerabilities in DeFi protocols were the second largest source of losses, accounting for about 12% of the total. Instant loan and re-entry attacks remain common tactics. The largest incident was the theft of $1.5 billion from the Bybit exchange in February. It raised the average loss to $30 million per attack – twice as much as in 2024.

TRM Labs attributes about $1.6 billion in damage (more than 70%) to the actions of hacker groups linked to North Korea. The report also mentions the June hack of Iran’s Nobitex exchange: the Gonjeshke Darande group published the platform’s source code and claimed responsibility.

Analysts called on market participants to tighten security measures: strengthen key storage, fight insider risks, more actively implement MFA and establish international cooperation. TRM Labs called the current situation an alarming signal and reminded that only a collective and systematic approach can change the situation.