Record-High Hacking Incidents Rock Crypto Industry in Q2 2026

The second quarter of 2026 has seen an unprecedented number of hacking incidents, with 83 exploits targeting cryptocurrency protocols, according to analysis by market insights platform Unfolded based on DefiLlama data. This marks a record high in incident count, surpassing previous quarters.

Despite the rising frequency of hacks, total losses remain relatively low, with $755.3 million stolen during the quarter so far. However, this is significantly lower than the $3.56 billion lost in the fourth quarter of 2020, which remains the costliest quarter on record for crypto hacks.

The largest incidents of the quarter include KelpDAO’s $293 million hack and Drift Protocol’s $280 million exploit. Bridge exploits emerged as the leading attack vector, with over 38% of stolen value coming from LayerZero OFT bridge exploits alone.