Crypto theft soared to all-time high in H1 2025 – Chainalysis

By the end of June 2025, illicit actors had stolen more cryptocurrencies from crypto exchanges and services than in the same period in any other year, a report by the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has found. 

According to the company, despite the increase in the investigative capacity of law enforcement agencies and the closure of some sanctioned exchanges, criminals seem to have only found more sophisticated means to steal funds. 

Driving the news 

• Chainalysis revealed these findings in its 2025 Mid-Year Crypto Crime Report. 
• Typically, the firm classifies transactions involving funds sent to addresses confirmed or suspected to be engaged in unlawful activities as illicit. 
• It also includes funds stolen through hacks, and for the first time in more detail, proceeds of violent crime carried out in real life but aimed at stealing individual crypto holdings. 
• In addition, the firm added that it has acquired the capacity to track personal wallet thefts, a phenomenon that had been underreported before now. 
• According to Chainalysis, despite recorded law enforcement wins in the fight against crypto crime — including the closure of sanctioned exchange Garantex — crypto crime has only evolved. 

In focus: Exchange hacks 

• This year is alarmingly on track to be the year where the most funds are stolen from crypto services and exchanges, Chainalysis found. 
• Already, the cumulative value of funds stolen from these services has climbed above $2 billion within the first half of the year, faster than in any period in the last four years. 

• At this pace, more than $4.3 billion could be lost by companies offering crypto services to the hands of criminal elements by the end of the year. 

Case in point: The $1.5 billion hack of the centralized exchange Bybit’s Ethereum cold wallet earlier in the year represents the single largest case of stolen crypto ever. In addition, this event also accounts for 69% of all funds stolen from crypto services this year, highlighting the sheer volume and weight of the incident. 

• According to Chainalysis, Bybit’s hack by suspected North Korean-sponsored actors showed a resurgence in state-sponsored criminal activities onchain after a slow 2024. 

Which coins are getting stolen from personal wallets? 

• Personal wallet hacks constitute a growing share of stolen cryptocurrency, a trend that Chainalysis attributes to increased individual crypto adoption and improved security at exchanges, making personal wallets the next best targets for criminals. 
• In terms of total value, bitcoin accounts for the majority of crypto stolen from these personal wallets. 

• This is because hackers do not just target bitcoin wallets, but they aim high, going after high-net-worth individuals who hold large amounts of bitcoin. 
• In addition, other non-bitcoin wallets such as Solana have also seen a surge in individual wallet hacks, though bitcoin’s superior value may explain why more bitcoin is stolen compared to altcoins. 

Onchain crime goes violent 

• According to Chainalysis, another trend in crypto crime this year has been an increase in physical, violent attacks as a tactic to gain access to individual crypto holdings. 
• These attacks —kidnapping, maiming, and homicide — are set to occur twice as much as they did in 2024 by the end of the year. 

Which regions are most affected? 

• Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the lowest criminal crypto activity, though this may be connected to the overall low value of digital assets held by Africans. 
• On the other hand, the United States has seen the highest victim count, while countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa have seen the most rapid growth in the number of victims. 
• North America dominates the victim charts in terms of stolen bitcoin and altcoins, in tandem with the relatively superior crypto adoption in the region compared to anywhere else. 

• Again, Sub-Saharan Africa ranks lowest in this section, topping only Latin America for bitcoin value stolen but falling behind all other regions for every other asset.