The value of cryptocurrencies stolen through exploits and fraud reached $370.3 million last month, the highest monthly figure in 11 months and nearly four-fold higher than in January 2025.
Of the 40 exploit and fraud incidents during January, the majority of the total value stolen came from a single victim who lost about $284 million to a social engineering scam, cryptocurrency security firm CertiK said on Saturday.
A large portion of the more than $370 million stolen came as a result of phishing scams, which stole $311.3 million over the course of the month.
The January figure is the largest monthly loss for cryptocurrencies since February 2025, when attackers stole about $1.5 billion in total over the course of the month, most of which came from a $1.4 billion hack on cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, according to CertiK.
The latest figures represent an increase of more than 277% from January 2025, when attackers stole $98 million. It’s also a 214% increase from December, which saw $117.8 million lost due to cryptocurrency theft, CertiK said.
Financial move, Truebut attacks are among the largest hacks
Security firm PeckShield said on Sunday that Saturday’s Step Finance breach was the largest of the month.
Attackers stole around $28.9 million in the attack on the decentralized financial wallet tracker, with several of its treasury wallets compromised, with more than 261,000 Solana (SOL) taken away.
Related to: Bybit made a “slow but steady comeback” in 2025 after a massive hack: CoinGecko
The second largest exploit of the month was the $26.4 million attack on the Truebit protocol on January 8, when a flaw in a smart contract allowed an attacker to mint tokens at almost no cost, which also led to a collapse in the price of the Truebit token (TRU).
PeckShield also noted a $13.3 million hack on liquidity provider SwapNet on January 26 and a $7 million exploit against the Saga blockchain protocol on January 21.
The company said there were 16 total breaches during the month of January, with total losses amounting to $86.01 million, a 1.42% decrease from a year ago, but a jump of more than 13% from December.
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