Crypto hacks surged late in 2025, and a string of high-profile breaches — including a recent Trust Wallet incident — underline a broader, worsening security picture for the industry.
What happened
- DeBot, an AI-driven DeFi trading and insights tool, confirmed a $255,000 loss after attackers exploited a server in Japan. The team said the confirmed losses “stem from some users transferring funds back to old wallet addresses that have been deemed unsafe,” and pledged to make affected users whole.
- Binance-backed Trust Wallet reported roughly $7 million stolen during the same Christmas week in an incident tied to a malicious Chrome extension.
- The Flow blockchain suffered a separate December loss of $3.9 million.
- Chainalysis reports total crypto thefts reached $3.4 billion in 2025, with the Bybit hack earlier in the year accounting for about half of that sum.
Why this matters
- Hacks rose even as trading activity cooled and “bear market” sentiment set in. Chainalysis flags a growing share of attacks targeting personal wallets and user-level compromises — trends that have intensified over the past three years.
- North Korean-linked actors were the single largest source of theft, responsible for at least $2.02 billion in stolen crypto in 2025 — a 51% year-over-year increase ($681 million more than 2024) and accounting for a record 76% of service compromises, per the Chainalysis report.
- Social engineering and employee-targeting remain common tactics for sophisticated groups.
New risk vectors: bots and custodial practices
OKX founder and CEO Star Xu warned on X that emerging threats now include DEX bots and custodial services that ask users to upload private keys or secrets to cloud storage. He noted this pattern raises systemic risks for wallets and funds, and argued for design changes that preserve both security and usability. As he put it: “Security and usability are not mutually exclusive: Institutional-grade security and risk controls and user-controlled local authentication, such as passkeys.”
How users can protect themselves
- Avoid uploading private keys or seed phrases to cloud services. Never paste them into third‑party bots or browser extensions.
- Double-check wallet web links and extension legitimacy to avoid phishing or malicious Chrome add-ons.
- Prefer local, user-controlled authentication (passkeys, device biometrics) and hardware wallets for significant holdings.
- Limit permissions when connecting bots or dApps, and revoke access promptly if behavior looks suspicious.
Bottom line
The late-2025 uptick in thefts — amplified by targeted campaigns and risky custody patterns — shows attackers are pivoting to user-level compromises and supply-chain-like vectors (extensions, bots, compromised employees). The message from security leaders is clear: better design, stricter operational hygiene, and safer user practices are needed if the industry wants to blunt this trend.
Disclaimer: This article is informational and not investment advice. Trading or holding cryptocurrency is high risk; do your own research before making decisions. © 2025 AMBCrypto.
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