Updated: 28.03.2026
- In less than a quarter of 2026, losses from cryptocurrency theft reached $500 million, employees discovered. CertiK.
- The biggest losses were recorded in January, as hackers targeted protocols rather than retail investors.
- Following a January hack, the Step Finance protocol was unable to recover and shut down in February.
According to blockchain security company CertiK, cryptocurrency losses approached $500 million in less than three months of 2026. Since January 1, analysts have identified 103 security incidents and 36 phishing cases.
The crypto industry suffered its greatest losses in January. According to CertiK, 42 incidents were recorded during the month, resulting in damages of $398,5 million. By comparison, losses in February fell to $43,7 million, despite the number of incidents rising to 50. In March, damages totaled $38,3 million due to 47 incidents, bringing the total for the quarter to 139.
The decline in monthly losses since January doesn’t indicate a stabilization of the situation. Most likely, major thefts have been replaced by regular hacks, fraud, and theft of funds using exploits.
Several major incidents in early 2026 involved well-known platforms. For example, the Step Finance protocol based on Solana lost $27,3 million after attackers hacked the executive’s device and stole private keys. The hacker then emptied the treasury wallets, withdrawing 261,854 Sol. In February, the Step Finance team announced termination of activities due to the inability to find financing or a buyer.
Truebit Verification and Computation Protocol based on Ethereum also serious suffered due to the incidentAccording to researchers, attackers exploited an outdated smart contract and stole approximately 8535 ETH, worth $26,6 million. The price of the TRU token fell from $0,16 to almost zero in a matter of hours due to panic selling.
Phishing remains the leading cause of losses in the cryptocurrency industry in 2026, with losses exceeding $300 million in January alone.
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