Gravity

Alephium

Verus

THORChain

<p>CertiK has reported that crypto losses from hacks and exploits have fallen to $68.3 million in May, nearly 90% lower than the roughly $650 million stolen in April.</p>
<div id="cn-block-summary-block_5b862e9403cea126537d311735e7350f" class="cn-block-summary">
 <div class="cn-block-summary__nav tabs"><span>Summary</span>
 </div>
 <div class="cn-block-summary__content">
  <ul>
   <li>Crypto losses fell to $68.3 million in May, nearly 90% lower than the roughly $650 million recorded in April, according to CertiK.</li>
   <li>Verus Protocol and THORChain suffered the two largest exploits of the month, with combined losses exceeding $21 million.</li>
   <li>CertiK reported a rise in AI-assisted malware activity as attackers targeted code repositories and AI coding tools.</li>
  </ul>
 </div>
</div>
<p>According to blockchain security firm CertiK, May became the third month of 2026 to record less than $100 million in crypto-related losses after attackers stole $68.3 million through exploits, scams, and security breaches.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x">
 <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
   <p><a href="https://x.com/hashtag/CertiKStatsAlert?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#CertiKStatsAlert</a> 🚨<br><br>Combining all the incidents in May we’ve confirmed ~$68.3M lost to exploits with<br>~$2.6M of the total attributed to phishing.<br><br>After a particularly bad April, May is now the third month of 2026 to record losses under 100M$.<br><br>More details below 👇 <a href="https://t.co/GSWTLKXWDH" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/GSWTLKXWDH</a></p>— CertiK <a href="https://x.com/CertiKAlert/status/2061055092686758378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">May 31, 2026</a>
  </blockquote>
 </div>
</figure>
<p>The figure comes after a difficult April, when losses surged to around $650 million. CertiK noted that, excluding the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025, April recorded the highest monthly losses since March 2022. A $291 million exploit targeting Kelp DAO accounted for the largest incident that month.</p>
<p>While losses declined sharply in May, several major attacks still affected the sector. Data from CertiK shows that an <a href="https://crypto.news/verus-bridge-attacker-sends-back-8-5m-keeps-bounty/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">exploit</a> targeting Verus Protocol’s cross-chain bridge on May 18 resulted in $11.5 million in losses, making it the largest incident of the month. An attack on THORChain followed with roughly <a href="https://crypto.news/zachxbt-warns-thorchain-losses-may-top-10m-after-halt/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$10.1 million stolen</a> from the protocol.</p>
<p>You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/failed-hong-coin-ico-returns-2m-in-ether-after-10-years/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Failed Hong Coin ICO returns $2M in Ether after 10 years </a></p>
<p>A breakdown of the data shows that code vulnerabilities remained the most expensive attack vector. CertiK reported that flaws in protocol code accounted for approximately $45 million in losses, representing about 66% of the month’s total. Wallet and private key compromises ranked second, with attackers stealing $13.7 million through those incidents.</p>
<p>Cross-chain infrastructure continued to attract significant attention from attackers. According to CertiK, cross-chain bridge exploits caused $28.6 million in losses during May, or roughly 42% of the monthly total, placing them ahead of decentralized finance protocols among the most targeted sectors.</p>
<p>Data from DeFiLlama recorded 29 security incidents during the month, including seven cases involving compromised private keys.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Among the most recent attacks were exploits affecting Alephium Bridge and <a href="https://crypto.news/gravity-bridge-halted-after-5-4m-drain-hits-ethereum-cosmos-link/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Gravity Bridge</a> on May 30. Data shows that the incidents led to losses of approximately $815,000 and $5.4 million, respectively, after attackers gained access to private keys.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="ai-powered-attacks-add-to-security-concerns">AI-powered attacks add to security concerns</h2>
<p>Even as total losses declined, security researchers continue to warn about changes in attacker tactics.</p>
<p>In April, CertiK senior blockchain investigator <a href="https://crypto.news/certik-warns-ai-misuse-and-infrastructure-gaps-to-drive-2026-crypto-hacks/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Natalie Newson warned</a> that threat actors were increasingly combining social engineering, phishing campaigns, supply-chain compromises, and cross-chain vulnerabilities to execute large-scale attacks. Newson also warned that artificial intelligence tools were making cybercrime operations more sophisticated and easier to scale.</p>
<p>CertiK’s latest findings suggest that trend is continuing. The company reported that AI-assisted malware activity increased in May, with attackers targeting both crypto developers and AI developers by compromising code repositories and manipulating AI coding assistants.</p>
<p>Newson previously said that tools capable of creating realistic deepfakes, autonomous attack agents, and software that can identify vulnerabilities and generate exploit code are becoming more accessible.&nbsp;</p>
<p>According to CertiK, such capabilities are adding new risks at a time when attackers are already exploiting weaknesses in cross-chain systems and private key management.</p>
<p>In the meantime, CertiK has advised users to remain cautious of <a href="https://crypto.news/uniswap-phishing-campaign-on-google-ads-nets-attackers-over-400k/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">phishing attempts</a>, verify the authenticity of websites and smart contracts, and consider using cold wallets to reduce exposure of private keys during everyday operations.</p>
<p>Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/fed-backs-stablecoins-as-boe-says-tokenized-deposits-may-win-in-5-years/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Fed backs stablecoins as BoE says tokenized deposits may win in 5 years </a></p>

Crypto hack losses drop 90% to $68.3M in May, CertiK says

Table of Contents

crypto.news

Other articles published on Jun 1, 2026

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!