Key Insights
- Crypto attacks declined by around 44% in January of this year, compared to the previous one.
- $73 million was stolen during the month, in a ninefold increase compared to December when only $3.8 million was taken.
- While DeFi hacks only contributed $4.8 million (6.5%), CeFi suffered the harshest attacks with $69 million lost.
- Even though January’s numbers were milder than the previous year, it sets a disturbing precedent for the rest of the year.
The crypto industry has always battled some of the harshest cyberattacks in the tech space.
However, the most recent data for January shows that some things might be changing for the better.
Cyberattacks have dropped significantly compared to last year, and here’s how well security has improved so far this year.
A YoY Drop, And A Sharp Rise From December
Blockchain security firm Immunefi reported earlier in the week, that hackers stole more than $73 million worth of digital assets in January of 2025.
While this amount seems harsh, it is a staggering 44% decline from the $133 million stolen in January, a year before.
Notably, January’s thefts were still sizeable on a month-over-month basis, with nine times more money stolen compared to December of last year.
Immunefi notes that cybercriminals only managed to steal $3.8 million in December:
A metric that means they ramped up their efforts as the new year began.
Immunefi noted that the largest loss came from the attack on Phemex, the Singaporean CEX that was hacked for over $69 million.
The second largest incident came from Options trading platform Moby Trade, which saw $2.5 million loss.
Hackers Seemed To Favor CeFi Platforms
Cefi Platforms were the main target for hackers in January, according to Immunefi.
These hacks accounted for 93% of all the money lost within the month, with defi protocols being hacked for $4.8 million across 18 incidents.
This stands as an interesting correlation to the previous year’s report according to Hacken, which showed that defi hacks dropped by a staggering 40% throughout the year.
On the other hand, Cefi hacks surged to nearly 700 million—double of the total Cefi hacks in 2023.
Interestingly, the biggest problem with Cefi wasn’t with faulty code or bad infrastructure.
Most of the vulnerabilities came from human error, where attackers used phishing exploits to gain access to things like private keys and backdoors.
Finally, the BNB chain took the worst hit, and accounted for nearly 50% of all the hacks, compared to Ethereum’s 25%.
Arbirtum and Base followed with 10% losses each.
Will This Trend of Thefts Continue?
In essence, while the YoY decline in crypto hacks is a positive signal, the industry is far from being perfectly safe.
The sharp rise in attacks from December to January shows that the hackers are becoming more aggressive, and are taking the opportunity of a new year to ramp up their efforts.
Cefi platforms continue to look like “easy targets” for these malicious actors, with hundreds of millions in dollars stolen every year.
The road to stopping this disturbing trend of thefts involves more proactive measures from exchanges and similar platforms.
These entities could try educating their employees on cybersecurity threats. They could also try embracing some degree of decentralization where possible.
The crypto market is evolving rapidly, and so are the threats.
