Crypto hacks top $1 billion in H1 2026 as Ethereum and Solana lead losses

Crypto projects lost more than $1 billion across 212 verified exploits in the first half of 2026, Blockaid said, marking the highest half-year incident count on record even though total losses remained below the same period last year because H1 2025 was distorted by the $1.5 billion Bybit breach. The firm said 74% of stolen value stemmed from operational security failures such as compromised private keys, signer infrastructure and backend systems rather than code flaws alone. Two of the largest incidents were tied to DPRK-linked actors: the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit and the $292 million KelpDAO exploit, which together accounted for roughly 55% of total stolen funds. Drift later valued its stolen assets at $295.7 million. Ethereum-based projects recorded $332 million in losses and Solana-based projects $326 million, with more than 98% of Solana losses linked to compromised keys and signing infrastructure. Other firms also reported a record pace of attacks, with Immunefi counting about $972 million lost across 207 incidents and Quill Audits tracking $935.3 million across 87 DeFi hacks. Blockaid also flagged AI agent exploits as an emerging second-half risk after recording a $216,000 attack on Bankr. At the same time, traders were focused on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and the subsequent press conference by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Bitcoin traded around $63,954 after rebounding from below $63,000, with $65,680 seen as near-term resistance, while Ethereum traded at $1,911, up 1.42% on the day, with $2,000 as the next key level. July 28 ETF flows showed net outflows of $49.75 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs and net inflows of $14.53 million into spot Ethereum ETFs, alongside outflows of $18.07 million from Solana ETFs and $1.24 million from HYPE ETFs.