April 2026 witnessed a record number of crypto hacks, totaling $651 million in losses. Major incidents involved Kelp and Drift Protocol, indicating serious security concerns.
April 2026 marked an unprecedented month for the cryptocurrency sector, as over 20 hacking incidents were reported by DefiLlama, solidifying it as the most breached month in crypto history.
CertiK's analysis revealed that these attacks resulted in total losses of around $651 million. Although this figure does not surpass past record losses, the volume of incidents has reached new heights, highlighting ongoing security challenges in the industry.
Stacy Muur, an analyst, confirmed 24 theft cases during the month. Notably, the largest hack involved Kelp, which saw losses of $292 million. This incident had ripple effects on the Aave lending protocol, raising concerns about "bad debts" and leading the community to look for emergency funding.
Another significant breach targeted Drift Protocol on Solana, leading to damages of over $280 million. Representatives of the project indicated that this attack was methodically orchestrated over a six-month period using sophisticated social engineering tactics.
Additionally, the Hyperbridge protocol on Polkadot suffered a loss of $2.5 million due to fraudulent cross-chain transactions. Reports surfaced towards the month's end regarding hundreds of Ethereum wallets being drained, many of which had not been active for years.
In April, phishing-related losses amounted to approximately $3.5 million, and the total losses were the highest seen since March 2022, aside from the Bybit incident. Other notable attacks included breaches of the Wasabi project, leading to losses exceeding $5 million, and the Syndicate project, which saw losses around $330,000.
