Crypto hack losses drop below $1 billion in H1 2026 despite record 207 security incidents

Cryptocurrency projects lost $972 million across a record 207 hack incidents in the first half of 2026, representing a 50% drop in losses compared to the same period in 2025. While decentralized finance exploits fell 74% from their 2022 peak, the threat landscape is shifting toward infrastructure and private key compromises. Bug bounty platforms like Immunefi, which has paid out over $140 million to 92,000 researchers, are helping mitigate these evolving threats.

H1 2026 crypto hack losses

• ▪Cryptocurrency projects lost approximately $972 million across 207 hack incidents in the first half of 2026
• ▪The 207 cryptocurrency hack incidents recorded in the first half of 2026 represent the highest incident count ever recorded
• ▪The cryptocurrency losses in the first half of 2026 were less than half of the losses recorded in the first half of 2025

DeFi security improvement drivers

• ▪The decline in decentralized finance losses is driven by continuous security coverage, bug bounty programs, audit competitions, and a growing researcher base
• ▪Decentralized finance exploit losses fell 74% from their 2022 peak of $2.62 billion to $680.3 million
• ▪The median loss per decentralized finance exploit fell 75% from its 2022 peak

Infrastructure vulnerability shift

• ▪Bridge exploits have largely receded, and flash-loan attacks now account for a fraction of a percent of cryptocurrency losses
• ▪The most severe cryptocurrency exploit damage increasingly stems from infrastructure failures, private key compromises, cross-chain configuration errors, and privileged access weaknesses

Bug bounty program economics

• ▪In the first half of 2026, Immunefi paid researchers approximately $13.45 million to surface 837 valid bugs before they could be exploited
• ▪Immunefi protects more than $180 billion in assets across more than 650 protocols and has helped prevent over $25 billion in losses

Immunefi researcher payouts

• ▪Immunefi's platform counts more than 92,000 registered researchers as of June 2026
• ▪Immunefi crossed $140 million in lifetime researcher payouts in June 2026