February 2025 witnessed a staggering $1.53 billion in crypto losses, marking an 18x increase from the previous year and a 20x surge from January. The bulk of these losses stemmed from a single massive security breach—the $1.46 billion hack of crypto exchange Bybit—pushing total losses for the year to $1.6 billion, already surpassing the entirety of 2024, according to Immunefi.
Breakdown of February’s Crypto Losses
According to Immunefi’s research, nearly all of February’s losses were concentrated in two major incidents:
- Bybit Hack: $1.46 billion stolen in a single attack, making it one of the largest crypto breaches to date.
- Infini Stablecoin Bank Attack: $49.5 million lost in a separate hack.
- Other incidents: Seven additional attacks accounted for smaller losses, including zkLend ($9.5 million) and Ionic Money ($8.6 million).
CeFi vs. DeFi: A Disproportionate Impact
The data highlights that centralized finance (CeFi) platforms were hit hardest, with Bybit’s hack alone contributing to 95.5% of total losses. Meanwhile, decentralized finance (DeFi) recorded eight incidents, making up only 4.5% of total losses.
“In February 2025, CeFi accounted for 95.5% of the total losses with a single incident, while DeFi, which experienced eight cases, accounted for the remaining 4.5% of total volume of funds lost.”
– Immunefi Report
Additionally, hacks were responsible for 100% of losses in February, reinforcing the dominance of security breaches over fraudulent schemes.
Most Targeted Blockchains
Among blockchain ecosystems, BNB Chain and Ethereum were the most affected, suffering four attacks each, amounting to 72.8% of total losses. Other chains that experienced attacks included:
- Abstract
- Mode
- Optimism
Bybit Attacker Launders Hundreds of Millions
As reported by crypto.news, the Bybit hacker has already laundered over 266,300 ETH ($614 million) in just five days. The attacker has been moving funds at an average rate of 48,420 ETH per day. If this pace continues, the remaining 233,086 ETH could be fully laundered within the next five days.
With crypto losses skyrocketing in February, the security challenges facing both CeFi and DeFi platforms are becoming increasingly evident. While centralized exchanges bore the brunt of February’s attacks, decentralized protocols remain vulnerable to exploitation as well.
As hacks continue to dominate losses, industry players will need to enhance security measures and develop stronger risk mitigation strategies to prevent further multi-billion-dollar breaches.
