Dec 24, 2025 – Cryptocurrency thefts surged to a record $2.7 billion in 2025, driven largely by operations linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group. According to data from Chainalysis, TRM Labs, and De.Fi, North Korean actors stole at least $2.02 billion, marking a 51% increase from 2024 and accounting for nearly 60% of global crypto heists.
The largest single incident was the February breach of Dubai-based exchange Bybit, where attackers exfiltrated approximately $1.5 billion in digital assets by compromising cold wallets. Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, later attributed the attack to state-sponsored hackers, highlighting a strategic shift toward fewer but far larger operations.
Aside from centralized exchange compromises, DeFi platforms also endured significant losses. The Cetus decentralized exchange reported a $223 million exploit in June, followed by a $128 million vulnerability exploit at the Balancer protocol. These incidents underscore persistent vulnerabilities in smart contract logic and liquidity pool configurations despite ongoing security improvements.
Overall, the year 2025 marked the third consecutive record for crypto heist totals, with service-level compromises dominating loss figures. Chainalysis data indicates that while the number of hacking events declined by 74% from 2024, the average value per incident more than tripled, reflecting a focus on high-impact targets.
Security experts emphasize the need for enhanced asset custody practices, including multi-party computation (MPC) wallets and real-time anomaly detection. Regulatory bodies are also stepping up requirements for proof-of-reserves and third-party audits to bolster consumer confidence and deter sophisticated threat actors.
– BlockchainSecurityNews.
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