Summary
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Cryptocurrency hacks in Q1 2025 resulted in over $1.77 billion stolen, according to a Finbold report, indicating a potentially record-breaking year for digital asset theft.
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A massive $1.5 billion Ethereum theft from a Bybit cold wallet constitutes nearly 85% of the total losses, overshadowing even the total stolen in the first half of 2024 and significantly exceeding Q1 2023 figures.
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Beyond the Bybit heist, other notable incidents include the controversial Libra rug pull linked to the Argentinian president and contract vulnerability exploits at Infini, Abracadabra Money, and zkLend, highlighting diverse attack vectors and the widespread nature of crypto security breaches.
A new Finbold report reveals that cryptocurrency theft reached alarming levels in the first quarter of 2025, totaling over $1.77 billion.
The Q1 2025 Cryptocurrency Market Report by Finbold, which utilized hack data from blockchain security firm SlowMist, indicates a potentially devastating year for digital asset security.
The scale of these losses becomes even more striking when considering that a single incident comprises almost 85% of the total stolen value.
In February 2025, an audacious attack resulted in the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in Ethereum (ETH) from a Bybit cold wallet by an unidentified perpetrator.
The Bybit hack not only accounts for the vast majority of cryptocurrency stolen in the first quarter of 2025 but also surpasses the total theft of $1.38 billion reported for the entire first half of 2024.
Furthermore, it is three times greater than the $452 million stolen in the first quarter of 2023.
These figures position 2025 as a potentially record-breaking year for cryptocurrency heists, especially considering several prominent attacks have already occurred.
Controversial Rug Pull Scandal Involves Argentinian President
Despite the sheer financial magnitude of the Bybit hack, the Libra (LIBRA) rug pull might be considered the most controversial event of the quarter.
This scam, which resulted in losses of about $100 million, implicated Argentinian President Javier Milei.
In early 2025, President Milei publicly promoted LIBRA and its associated blockchain as a viable investment within Argentina.
He hasn’t expressed regret for his promotion, despite not appearing to have had any direct role in planning the scam itself.
Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports and another public figure paid to endorse the cryptocurrency, reportedly suffered losses exceeding $5 million when the meme coin collapsed.
While substantial, the other documented hacks and attacks of the quarter involving known losses appear insignificant in comparison to both the Bybit heist and the Libra scandal’s shocking nature.
Developer’s Backdoor Access Exploited in Infini Hack
Infini, a Hong Kong-based stablecoin neobank, suffered a $50 million loss in late February due to exploited administrative privileges.
Reports suggest a former developer, who previously assisted in creating the company’s contract, secretly maintained excessive privileges.
This individual then allegedly drained the funds using the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.
Smart Contract Flaws Lead to Significant ETH Losses
Further cryptocurrency heists during the quarter involved the exploitation of vulnerabilities within smart contracts, ranking as the fourth and fifth largest incidents by value.
In late March, an attacker successfully exploited a flaw in Abracadabra Money’s smart contracts, extracting 6,262 ETH, valued at approximately $13 million at the time, from a liquidity pool.
Earlier in February, another attacker exploited a rounding error within zkLend, stealing 3,600 ETH worth $9.6 million.
It is important to consider that Finbold’s Q1 2025 Cryptocurrency Market Report only incorporates incidents with confirmed financial losses.
This means the actual total amount stolen during the quarter is likely to be even higher than the reported $1.77 billion.
Also Read: Cryptocurrency Emerges in Global Energy Trade as China and Russia Embrace Bitcoin
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