Crypto Hacks Surge 15% in August, $91M Bitcoin Heist Leads Losses

Blockchain security firm PeckShield has confirmed that crypto hacks drained $163 million from users and exchanges last month. This marked a 15% jump compared to July, with a $91 million hack topping the list.

$91M Bitcoin Theft Tops August’s Crypto Hacks

PeckShield’s data revealed that around 16 major incidents contributed to the month’s losses. Approximately $163 million was stolen by hackers, representing a 15% surge from the number of hacks recorded in July. A long-time Bitcoin investor suffered the most considerable loss, losing approximately $91.4 million in stolen BTC.

Turkey’s largest crypto exchange, BtcTurk, was also struck again. They reported a theft of between $48 million and $54 million after hackers compromised hot-wallet keys. BtcTurk had endured a $54 million breach in June 2024, putting its cumulative losses well above $100 million.

Other incidents in August included a $7 million loss at ODIN•FUN, $5 million drained from BetterBank.io. PeckShield also reported a $4.5 million exploit on CrediX Finance, which operates on the Sonic blockchain.

PeckShield’s mid-year review revealed that the average cost of an exploit in 2025 was $7.18 million. This is more than double the $3.1 million average seen in the first half of 2024.

Access control weaknesses, particularly stolen private keys and malicious approval schemes, accounted for over three-quarters of total losses. Social engineering attacks contributed 23% of the total. Recovery rates for these hacks have also remained dismal. Currently, only 7–8% of the stolen funds have been reclaimed.

PeckShield has identified many high-profile crypto hacks that were carried out by state-sponsored actors, including North Korea’s Lazarus Group. They observed that to avoid detection, the stolen money is swiftly transferred through mixers and cross-chain bridges.

Uptick in Crypto Hacks Raises Red Flags

The increase in hacking incidents and security breaches has raised serious concerns in the market. Last month, Arkham disclosed the largest Bitcoin hack in history, which had been overlooked for years. According to its investigation, a mining pool based in China lost 127,426 Bitcoin in 2020, which is worth billions of dollars at the current exchange rate.

Furthermore, in July, trading platform BigONE lost $27 million when attackers infiltrated its hot wallets and altered risk-control servers. However, in terms of recovering stolen funds, the exchange assured users that it would cover all customer losses.

Sui’s Cetus Protocol was also struck by a $260 million exploit. In an effort to recover the funds, Cetus offered the attacker a $6 million bounty to return the stolen funds. The year’s most dramatic incident came when ByBit was reportedly hacked for over $1.4 billion.

The rise of billion-dollar exchanges and institutional-grade custodians has not been enough to slow the wave of crypto hacks. If anything, the industry’s growing market capitalization makes it an even larger target. The surge suggests that security infrastructure is still behind.