The second quarter of 2026 has emerged as the most hacked quarter on record with 83 incidents targeting cryptocurrency protocols, according to Unfolded's analysis of DefiLlama data.
Despite these breaches, the $755.3 million stolen is significantly lower than the $3.56 billion lost in Q4 2020, the costliest quarter for crypto hacks.
Notable incidents include KelpDAO’s $293 million hack and Drift Protocol’s $280 million exploit, highlighting the rising frequency of hacking attempts, even as total losses decline.
Dmytro Tarasiuk of CORE3 suggests these trends reflect a diminishing pool of accessible assets. The total value locked in DeFi has dropped from $164 billion to around $73 billion since October 2022.
Cross-chain bridge exploits were the primary attack vector in Q2 2026, accounting for $351 million in stolen funds; notably, the LayerZero OFT bridge exploit contributed to 38% of losses.
Additional incidents involved hackings from Taiko’s bridge protocol, Humanity Protocol, and THORChain, indicating ongoing vulnerabilities in the sector.
The rise of artificial intelligence models raises questions regarding their impact on crypto security, leading experts like Immunefi’s CEO Mitchell Amador to warn of a 'vulnerability apocalypse'.