Data from blockchain security company PeckShield indicates that hackers stole more than $1.63 billion in cryptocurrency during the first quarter of the current year.
The Bybit exploit accounted for over 92% of total losses.
PeckShield has released information according to which more than $87 million in cryptocurrency was lost in January due to hacks. In February, a sharp increase in the mentioned indicator was recorded. During the mentioned period, losses from hacks were fixed at the $1.53 billion mark. In this case, the main factor in the rapid increase in the indicator was the Bybit attack. It is worth noting separately that the specified incident is one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in history.
In addition to the Bybit hack, other cyber attacks in the cryptocurrency sector have caused losses of $126 million. This indicator, among other things, includes, a $50-million exploit targeting Infini. Also in February, a $9.5-million hack on zkLend and an $8.5-million loss from Ionic were recorded.
In March, losses related to hacks showed a sharp decline. Last month, the corresponding figure fell by 97% compared to the reading recorded in February. According to PeckShield, $33 million worth of crypto assets were stolen in March. Separately, it was noted that some funds were recovered. This allowed to offset the damage caused to users and protocols.
PeckShield data shows that more than 60 crypto hacks were committed in the first quarter of the current year. The company said that losses of $1.63 billion for January-March 2025 represented a 131% increase over the same period in 2024. In the first quarter of last year, losses totaled $706 million.
In March, the largest incident was a $13 million exploit involving the decentralized finance protocol Abracadabra.Money. According to PeckShield, on March 25, the attacker drained 6,260 Ether from the protocol.
The second largest incident in March was the $8.4-million hack on the real-world asset (RWA) restaking protocol Zoth. Security firm Cyvers flagged a suspicious Zoth transaction on March 21. The attacker withdrew $8.4 million from the protocol’s wallets. The assets were converted into a stablecoin and transferred to another address.
The March losses were partially reversed. In the first half of last month, a crypto hacker who stole $5 million from the decentralized exchange (DEX) 1inch returned 90% of the funds.
After a vulnerability in the smart contract was exploited, DEX offered the attacker a 10% bounty worth $500,000 in exchange for returning the rest of the crypto assets. The hacker accepted the offer and sent back $4.5 million to 1inch.
It is worth noting that the issue of cybersecurity has become more relevant recently. To a large extent, this is due to the active development of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence. Hackers also have access to machine intelligence tools. For this reason, their activities have become more sophisticated. To counteract the corresponding threat in the virtual space, personal awareness of users is important. For example, an Internet search query such as how to know if my camera is hacked will allow anyone to get information about signs of unauthorized access to the device. Digital literacy is an effective tool for countering cybercrime. At the same time, relevant knowledge should be updated periodically. This need is because technologies are constantly evolving, and cybercriminals strive to use the most advanced functional solutions in their activities.