The cryptocurrency industry suffered over $600 million in hacks during April, marking its worst month for security breaches in more than a year. Data shows decentralized finance (DeFi) was the primary target, with the KelpDAO and Drift Protocol exploits accounting for 82% of the monthly losses. Security analysts note a shift toward sophisticated attacks targeting off-chain infrastructure and operational failures, rather than simple smart contract bugs alone.
Crypto hacks in April resulted in losses totaling $629.7 million, the highest figure since February 2025 according to DeFiLlama. The KelpDAO hack of $293 million and the Drift Protocol exploit of $280 million dominated the period’s figures, highlighting DeFi’s vulnerability.
Recent incidents include the ongoing exploit of Wasabi Protocol, drained of around $5.5 million across multiple networks according to Certik. The move-to-earn platform Sweat Economy also lost $3.46 million, though the protocol said stolen funds were subsequently frozen on an exchange.
Aftermath Finance, a Sui-based trading platform, suffered an exploit where an attacker drained about $1.1 million according to Blockaid. The concentration of losses in a few large attacks shows how they can overwhelm broader sector security improvements.
Yaniv Nissenboim, head of security solutions at Chainalysis, stated “well-resourced attackers are finding novel ways to exploit the seams between on-chain protocols and the offchain systems they depend on.” He cited compromised cloud systems and social engineering as common entry points, with on-chain transactions often appearing legitimate.
Nissenboim added that real-time monitoring and automated safeguards are becoming critical for detection. In one case, rapid detection helped prevent a second theft of roughly $95 million during the KelpDAO incident.
Analysts at Standard Chartered suggested the KelpDAO theft is a sign of DeFi’s growing resilience rather than a fatal failure. The bank expects growth to remain on track as the maturing industry implements solutions to reduce vulnerabilities.
