Cyvers found that pig slaughter schemes were the most organized and persistent threat, while access control attacks caused the most security incidents.
Recent findings from blockchain security experts have revealed that fraudulent activities in the crypto space are becoming industrial scale. This means that bad actors, hackers and fraudsters are increasingly carrying out sophisticated social engineering operations to empty victims’ wallets.
A Web3 Security and Fraud Report 2025 from blockchain security firm Cyvers revealed a sharp increase in crypto fraud and on-chain security incidents last year. The industry recorded 108 incidents related to fraud or security threats.
The State of Crypto Fraud in 2025
According to Cyvers, approximately $16 billion in crypto assets were linked to fraudulent activity in 2025. This activity spanned at least 140 crypto exchanges and trading platforms, reaching an unprecedented scale in terms of wallets, payment providers, and banking rails. All major exchanges have seen a significant portion of their customers defrauded at least once.
Cyvers security systems detected more than 4.2 million fraudulent transactions across 780,000 addresses, across approximately 19,000 active fraud networks. These fraudulent flows were heavily concentrated in assets such as Tether (USDT), Ether (ETH), and USD Coin (USDC).
The blockchain security platform found that authorized fraud, particularly pig slaughter schemes, posed the most organized and persistent threat. Bad actors in these networks used long-term social engineering tactics and fake investment platforms to trick victims into emptying their wallets.
Chain threats evolve
While crypto fraud was the main driver of losses last year, security incidents also contributed significantly. The crypto industry lost $2.5 billion to hacks in 2025, compared to $2.36 billion in 2024 and $1.69 billion in 2023.
Most of the financial damage (over $2.2 billion in losses) recorded from security incidents came from large-scale access control attacks – compromised keys, permissions and human errors. Around $292 million was lost due to smart contract and code vulnerabilities.
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It is worth mentioning that the largest crypto theft in history happened last year, the $1.5 billion incident on the Bybit crypto exchange. Cyvers said the attack, which was facilitated by a compromise of the supply chain and legitimate signatures, did not initially appear to be a hack. Market experts predict that this could be the future of attacks – chain threats that seem normal at first glance.
Meanwhile, Ethereum was the main target, accounting for 70% of all funds lost in 33 major incidents. Other networks, such as BNB Chain, Bitcoin, and Sui, have also witnessed unique high-impact events.
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