$3.63 Billion Lost in Crypto: Insurance Capacity Drops 20 Percent

A total of $3.63 billion was lost across 245 security incidents recorded in the crypto sector between January 2025 and July 2026.

The CoinGecko 2026 Crypto Security Report, as reported by Wu Blockchain, revealed that the 10 largest attacks accounted for more than 72.5 percent of the stolen funds. A significant portion of the losses occurred despite the attacked platforms having previously undergone independent security audits.

According to the report, 147 platforms—approximately 60 percent of those attacked—had undergone independent audits prior to the incidents. Attacks on these platforms accounted for 88.44 percent of the total loss. Smart contract audits are independent reviews that search for known vulnerabilities in the code of crypto applications. In contrast, only about 11 percent of the incidents were related to vulnerabilities covered by these routine audits.

Audit Gap in Crypto Attacks

Having been audited did not necessarily mean that a vulnerability was within the scope of the audit. The monthly distribution showed that attacks against both audited and non-audited protocols continued simultaneously. There were 33 protocol exploits in May 2026 and 32 in June 2026.

In the distribution of losses by attack type, the largest share belonged to supply chain attacks with $1.806 billion. This was followed by smart contract exploits at $777 million, private key compromises at $431 million, and social engineering attacks at $311 million.

The active collateral capacity of on-chain insurance protocols, which aim to cover specific crypto losses with pooled funds, also decreased by 20.2 percent during the same period, falling from $163.2 million to $130.2 million. Five out of nine on-chain insurance protocols closed or pivoted. Meanwhile, centralized crypto exchanges have begun to rely more on investor protection funds created with their own resources to hedge against security risks.