Crypto Hacks Surge in August With $163M Lost, PeckShield Reports

Quick Breakdown:

• $163M lost to crypto hacks in Aug 2025, up 15% from July’s $142M, across 16 major exploits.
• Biggest hits: $91.4M BTC whale theft and BtcTurk’s $48–54M hot-wallet breach, its second major hack in a year.
• PeckShield links laundering to Lazarus Group; access-control flaws and social engineering drove over 78% of losses.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield has revealed that $163 million was stolen through hacks and exploits in August, a 15% increase from July’s $142 million. The losses were spread across roughly 16 incidents, with the majority concentrated in two large-scale breaches.

#PeckShieldAlert In August 2025, ~16 major crypto exploits were recorded, resulting in total losses of $163M—a 15% increase from July’s $142M.

Notably, @btcturk suffered its second major breach in just over a year, losing over $50M after a $54M hack in June 2024., bringing their… pic.twitter.com/JWiWNEDdZW

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 1, 2025

Major Breaches Drive Monthly Losses

The most damaging case involved a veteran Bitcoin (BTC) holder who lost $91.4 million in stolen BTC, marking one of the largest single-wallet losses in recent years. Turkey’s largest exchange, BtcTurk, also suffered another major breach on August 18, with hackers stealing between $48 million and $54 million through compromised hot-wallet keys.

This incident marks BtcTurk’s second security failure in just over a year, following a $54 million theft in June 2024. PeckShield’s analysis highlighted laundering activity consistent with North Korea’s Lazarus Group, which has been linked to a series of high-profile crypto thefts worldwide.

Other notable incidents included losses at ODIN•FUN ($7 million), BetterBank.io ($5 million), and CrediX Finance ($4.5 million) on the Sonic (S) blockchain. The CrediX case underscored the growing threat of multi-layered exploits, where attackers blend technical vulnerabilities with social engineering tactics to bypass access controls.

Exploits Becoming Less Frequent, More Costly

While the overall number of attacks in 2025 has declined compared to prior years, their impact has intensified. PeckShield’s mid-year analysis showed that the average loss per exploit reached $7.18 million in H1 2025, more than double the $3.1 million average in H1 2024.

Access-control weaknesses such as private key theft, malicious approvals, and compromised signers accounted for nearly 78% of H1 losses, while social engineering drove another 23%. Recovery rates remain low, with just 7–8% of stolen assets clawed back.

PeckShield warned that state-linked actors, particularly Lazarus, continue to rely on mixers and cross-chain bridges to rapidly launder funds, complicating recovery and enforcement efforts.

Notably, December 2024 saw a significant decline in hack-related losses. More than 25 cryptocurrency hacks were reported during the month, resulting in a total loss of $24.69 million over 70% less than November’s figures, according to PeckShield.

 

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