There’s been a dramatic increase in crypto funds stolen in the first quarter the year. There were more than 60 crypto hacks so far in 2025, totaling a whopping $1.63 billion in losses, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield.
This also represents a 131% year-over-year increase, compared to $706 million in losses in the first quarter of 2024.
The biggest hack — and biggest in history — was the one targeting ByBit, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume. In February, North Korea’s Lazarus Group stole $1.46 billion from the exchange’s ethereum wallet.
The hack accounted for the bulk of February’s losses, which totaled $1.52 billion, “making it the most financially devastating month in crypto history,” PeckShield said in a post.
“So far, the #Bybit hacker has laundered 280.6K $ETH (worth ~$673.5M, $57% of the stolen funds) and still holds 218.75K $ETH (~$467M) in wallet,” PeckSheid posted on March 1.
Ari Redbord, VP and global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs, deemed the ByBit hack a “bank robbery at unprecedented speed and scale.” He added that the TRM Labs Crypto Crime Report found that North Korea stole $800 million last year — ByBit’s hack alone was double that amount.
In January, there were 28 crypto hacks, resulting in over $87 million in losses, a 51.95% year-over-year decrease from January 2024 “but a staggering 253.24% MoM surge from December 2024,” according to PeckShield.
Finally, in March, there were 20 crypto hacks, which resulted in a total loss of $33.46 million.
