The decentralized ecosystem promised transparency, autonomy, and financial freedom. Yet, the first half of 2025 painted a concerning picture of how vulnerable the Web3 space remains to malicious exploits. In just six months, $2.3 billion was drained through a series of high-profile hacks and breaches, a staggering figure that has already surpassed the total losses recorded in 2024.
At QuillAudits, we’ve meticulously tracked, analyzed, and documented these incidents, presenting our findings in the H1 2025 Crypto Exploits & Security Breaches Report.
This isn’t just another summary of attacks. It’s a comprehensive analysis of the patterns, attack vectors, and evolving tactics used by threat actors in the crypto space.
Here’s a glimpse of what the report reveals:
- $1.6 billion lost due to Access Control exploits — emphasizing how permission mismanagement remains one of the biggest security pitfalls in smart contracts.
- Social Engineering attacks, often underestimated, accounted for a significant portion of the losses, proving that the human element is still a prime target.
- Ethereum emerged as the most impacted chain, with $1.59 billion in losses, showing that being the most adopted network also makes it a prime target for attackers.
- The top attacks that defined this period included the Bybit exploit ($1.49B), a massive Bitcoin user hack ($330M) and the Cetus Protocol compromise ($223M).
- Alarmingly, 95% of total losses came from just three vectors, Access Control flaws, Social Engineering and Integer Overflow bugs.
These numbers serve as a wake-up call. They highlight the urgent need for proactive security practices, not just reactive measures after the damage is done.
From developers to project founders, investors to end-users, everyone in the Web3 ecosystem bears the responsibility of understanding these threats and adopting robust security frameworks.
Want to dive deeper?
Download our detailed H1 2025 Crypto Exploits & Security Breaches Report to explore in-depth case studies, attacker techniques, and proactive security measures that can help safeguard your projects against such exploits.
👉 Download the Full H1 Crypto Exploit Report
At QuillAudits, our mission extends beyond just auditing smart contracts. We aim to empower the community with knowledge, insights, and a deeper understanding of the Web3 threat landscape. With over 7 years of experience and 1M+ lines of code audited, we bring a layered, expert-driven approach to uncover hidden vulnerabilities before malicious actors do.
