Crypto hacks drop 47% in H1, but CertiK warns the ecosystem isn’t safer—attackers are getting nastier
CertiK reports that crypto losses from hacks and exploits fell 46.8% year-on-year to $1.32B in the first half of 2026. But the firm says the headline number is misleading: attackers are growing more sophisticated and increasingly destructive, so the decline doesn’t automatically translate into a safer ecosystem.
In Q2, exploits surged 59% quarter-on-quarter to $807.5 million, driven in part by the KelpDAO and Drift Protocol exploits reportedly linked to North Korean, state-sponsored hackers. The report also shows phishing dominated Q1 losses (up to $508.2 million), while wallet compromises became the biggest attack vector in Q2—reinforcing that crypto security, wallet hardening, and threat prevention remain urgent priorities.
More than 70% of Q2 losses came from the KelpDAO and Drift Protocol hacks, which are widely believed to have been carried out by North Korean state-sponsored hackers. Despite the overall drop across the first half, CertiK highlights a shift in the threat landscape—greater technical evolution and higher destructiveness—underscoring the need for immediate security upgrades, especially around wallet protection and authentication practices.
This is a summarized and adapted version by Artificial Intelligence. To read the complete original story, visit the official source.
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