**Hackers Stole Over $2.7B in Crypto in 2025, a New Record**

The world of cryptocurrency has been rocked by a staggering new record: hackers stole over $2.7 billion in crypto this year alone, according to blockchain-monitoring firms.

It's not the first time we've seen massive crypto heists, but this year's haul sets a new benchmark for cybercrime. Dozens of cryptocurrency exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects were targeted by hackers, with the biggest breach being at Dubai-based exchange Bybit, where thieves made off with around $1.4 billion in crypto.

Blockchain analysis firms, including Chainalysis and TRM Labs, as well as the FBI, have pointed fingers at North Korean government hackers - the most prolific group targeting crypto in recent years - for the massive heist at Bybit. This was not only the largest known loot of crypto to date but also one of the largest financial heists in human history.

Before the Bybit hack, the largest crypto thefts netted $624 million and $611 million for hackers in 2022 breaches against the Ronin Network and Poly Network, respectively. Chainalysis estimated a total of $2.7 billion stolen in crypto in 2025, with another $700,000 pilfered from individual crypto wallets.

De.Fi, the web3 security firm behind the REKT database that tracks crypto thefts, also put the year's losses at around $2.7 billion. As usual, North Korean government hackers were the most successful crypto thieves of 2025, after stealing at least $2 billion, according to Chainalysis and Elliptic, which estimated that Kim Jong Un's hackers have stolen around $6 billion since 2017.

The regime uses crypto thefts to fund its sanctioned nuclear weapons program. Other significant crypto hacks this year included the one against Cetus, a decentralized exchange, which netted the hackers $223 million; the breach against Balancer, a protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain, resulting in a loss of $128 million; and the one against Phemex, where cybercriminals stole more than $73 million.

Cybercriminals targeting crypto exchanges and DeFi projects show no signs of slowing down. In 2024, hackers stole $2.2 billion in crypto, while the year before saw losses totaling $2 billion.