Cryptocurrency companies suffered cyberattacks that stole more than $1.17 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2026, for a sharp increase relative to the entire first half (H1) of the year, which featured $955 million in losses.
September saw the most hacking activity, with 50 known incidents affecting roughly $762 million worth of funds. August witnessed nearly 40 attacks, with the damage reaching nearly $188 million, and 35 took place in July, causing more than $224 million in damage.
Finbold Research calculated the Q3 2026 total using incident data tracked by SlowMist, based on known hack values recorded between July 1 and September 30, 2026. Figures reflect the gross value affected at the time of each incident and may differ from final unrecovered losses after funds are returned, frozen, or recovered.
The 5 biggest crypto hacks in Q3 accounted for 81% of all losses
Similar to the first half of 2026, Q3 was shaped by a handful of large-scale attacks, with the September 24 Bitget hack alone accounting for $387.5 million and the five biggest affecting a combined $952 million – 81% of the three-month total.
Notably, the second-biggest incident – the theft of $320 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) from the Liquid Network – involved a group of self-proclaimed ‘white-hat hackers’ who returned the majority of the funds within days.
Meanwhile, the third-largest attack – the hack that affected roughly $120 million worth of Tectonic assets – was not entirely successful, and the attackers managed to evacuate less than $10 million worth of funds before the chain was halted and rolled back.
Q3 also featured several other hacks that left the criminals entirely empty-handed, with some examples coming in the form of the August Oraichain exploit, the Zeus infrastructure compromise in the same month, and the July Across signal spoofing attack.
The fourth-largest incident, however, may have also been the most concerning. Specifically, the Coldcard hack not only affected $100 million worth of funds, but also involved breaching a hardware wallet – long considered one of the safest ways to store cryptocurrency.
Finally rounding out the top 5 is the AFX Bridge exploit, which resulted in roughly $24.15 million in losses after validator signing keys were compromised.
Crypto hack losses in 2026 so far
All told, Q3 represented a substantial acceleration in cyberattacks affecting the cryptocurrency space and brought the 2026 total to $2.1 billion – less than $700 million short of the $2.78 billion stolen in 2025.
Additionally, and unlike the previous year, the amount stolen soared above $2 billion without a singular massive hack akin to the $1.5 billion Bybit incident in Q1 2025.
Q4 outlook for crypto security
Between reporting delays that can affect the total long after a quarter has ended and the fact that there have already been 11 known hacks in the first nine days of October, 2026 could easily prove one of the worst years on record.
The situation could be further exacerbated due to the apparent bull market that started with the August rally, as it will both increase the value of every coin or token taken and provide a larger incentive to criminals.
Furthermore, the rising number of self-proclaimed activist hackers targeting both digital assets and other companies also arguably bodes ill.
Along with the Liquid Network incident, there have been other supposed ‘white hat’ incidents across multiple sectors. For example, the gaming industry was targeted by the Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA6) leaker over its anti-consumer practices.
Similarly, the Revolut data breach was presented as punishment for poor consumer protections, to the point of the attackers choosing the moniker ‘IAmNotAVillain’.
Lastly, a recent uptick in artificial intelligence (AI) companies hacking their competitors or national governments as part of their ‘AI agent’ tests demonstrated that cybercriminals could benefit from new and powerful tools before the end of Q4 2026.
