Cryptocurrency Security: Qualitative Changes in Attacks Send Major Warnings to the Industry

Decrease in Attack Frequency, but Over 60% Increase in Damage per Incident

Recent analyses by multiple industry research institutions have revealed an interesting phenomenon. While the total number of security incidents targeting cryptocurrencies has been decreasing year-over-year, the average loss per incident has reached approximately $5.3 million, marking a significant increase of over 60% compared to the same period last year.

The total annual loss scale is around $3.3 billion to $3.35 billion, suggesting that these figures are driven by a small number of large-scale attack incidents. In other words, hacker activity patterns are shifting from “quantity to quality,” focusing resources on fewer but highly destructive attacks rather than small, sporadic ones.

Structural Issue: Supply Chain Vulnerabilities Account for Over Half of Losses

The most prominent feature of this year’s security incidents is the significant damage caused by supply chain-related attacks. Just two major supply chain breaches resulted in approximately $1.45 billion in losses, accounting for nearly 50% of the total annual losses.

Unlike traditional vulnerabilities in smart contracts, supply chain attacks are difficult to detect through superficial code audits. They target dependencies on third parties, development environments, and underlying infrastructure directly, making attacks more covert, with broader impact scopes and requiring enormous recovery costs. The expansion of this attack pattern symbolizes that the entire industry is facing a new risk environment.

Major Exchange Incidents Reflect Systemic Risks

The security incident at a major exchange in February 2025 caused one of the largest damages in the history of the crypto industry as a single attack. According to reports, the asset loss from this incident reached about $1.4 billion, shocking the entire industry.

Following the incident, the platform immediately began implementing a comprehensive security improvement system, including multiple external audits and upgrades to internal processes. It restored the platform’s liquidity levels within approximately 30 days. This process demonstrates both the recovery capability of large platforms under extreme risk conditions and the seriousness of systemic threats.

Shift from Technical Challenges to Structural Threats in Security Risks

Integrating research from analysis agencies like CertiK and Chainalysis, it is clear that crypto security risks have qualitatively shifted from “technical vulnerabilities at the individual project level” to “systemic risks rooted in the entire industry’s infrastructure and interdependence.”

This transformation imposes new demands on all players, including exchanges, protocol projects, and institutional investors. The previous “project-level security audits” are no longer sufficient to cover the most destructive risk sources, necessitating the construction of defense systems from a “whole industry ecosystem” perspective.

Security Response Capabilities as a New Requirement for Institutional Entry

As the global regulatory environment gradually matures and institutional investors accelerate their participation, the security performance of platforms has become a decisive factor influencing market trust and institutional involvement.

The industry’s sustainable growth depends not only on compliance but also on maintaining operational resilience under low-frequency, high-destructive attack scenarios. The latest loss data reflect a reality that goes beyond individual incidents, serving as a rigorous stress test of the overall industry’s operational maturity.