2026 Crypto Hacks Dominated by Centralized Exchanges and DeFi Despite Hardware Wallet Failures

In 2026, crypto hacks produced roughly $2.35 billion in net losses. Centralized exchanges and DeFi platforms accounted for the majority of losses, with September alone contributing about $768 million. The largest single incident was Bitget's $387.5 million drain in September, linked to North Korea. Other significant losses included Liquid Network's $320 million exploit and DeFi protocols Drift Protocol and KelpDAO, which lost approximately $285-296 million and $292 million respectively, attributed to North Korean actors and design subversion. Hardware wallet failures represented a smaller aggregate loss despite media coverage.