{"id":138975,"date":"2026-03-02T09:30:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T09:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=138975"},"modified":"2026-03-02T09:30:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T09:30:43","slug":"cryptos-quietest-month-in-nearly-a-year-but-hackers-havent-gone-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=138975","title":{"rendered":"Crypto\u2019s Quietest Month In Nearly A Year \u2014 But Hackers Haven\u2019t Gone Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

February was unusually quiet for crypto<\/a> thieves. After months of eye-watering losses, the industry recorded just $26.5 million in total hack and scam-related damages last month \u2014 the smallest monthly figure in 11 months, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a number that stands in sharp contrast to the carnage seen in early 2025, when a single breach wiped out $1.5 billion from crypto exchange Bybit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2 Attacks Did Most Of The Damage<\/h2>\n

Out of 15 recorded incidents in February, two attacks were behind much of the losses. The bigger of the two hit YieldBlox, a DAO-managed lending pool, on Feb. 21. Attackers manipulated token prices to drain $10 million from the protocol.<\/p>\n

That same day, decentralized identity platform IoTeX was also struck \u2014 clos to $9 million was taken through a private key exploit. Together, those two incidents alone made up over 70% of the month\u2019s total losses.<\/p>\n

Compared to January, the drop is hard to ignore. Reports from PeckShield show that February\u2019s $26.5 million total represents a 69% decline from the $86 million recorded just a month earlier.<\/p>\n

#PeckShieldAlert<\/a> In Feb. 2026, the crypto space saw 15 main hacks totaling $26.5M, representing a 98.2% YoY decrease compared to Feb. 2025 ($1.5B, including the $1.4B #Bybit<\/a> drain) and a notable 69.2% MoM decrease from Jan. 2026 ($86.01M in losses).#Top5<\/a> Hacks :\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Svp7SZWp5w<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) March 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Part of the explanation, according to a PeckShield spokesperson, is simply the absence of a headline-grabbing, billion-dollar breach. When no single attack dominates the numbers, the totals look far more manageable.<\/p>\n

Market conditions also played a role. Bitcoin dipped below $70,000 in early February, triggering a broad market correction that appeared to shift the focus away from protocol attacks.<\/p>\n

During turbulent stretches, traders and institutions are preoccupied with managing losses and moving liquidity. That kind of environment, reports suggest, tends to suppress exploit activity rather than encourage it.<\/p>\n

Crypto Security Standards Are Getting Stricter<\/h2>\n

The improvement may not be entirely down to luck or timing. Analysts say that tighter risk controls, stronger vetting of counterparties, and better real-time monitoring across major platforms have all contributed to a more secure environment.<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence is being credited as a rising force in the fight against vulnerabilities. Automated code checks, anomaly detection tools, and pre-deployment attack simulations are catching problems earlier \u2014 before they can be exploited.<\/p>\n

Experts say that if security standards keep pace with the rate of innovation, losses could continue to shrink through the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

Phishing Stays A Stubborn Threat<\/p>\n

Not everything is trending in the right direction. Phishing attacks<\/a> \u2014 where criminals pose as trusted contacts or platforms to steal login credentials and private keys \u2014 remain a serious and ongoing problem.<\/p>\n

Losses tied to wallet-draining phishing schemes fell sharply in 2025, dropping from $494 million down to $83 million. But the threat has not disappeared.<\/p>\n

According to PeckShield, bad actors are increasingly shifting their attention away from targeting code and toward targeting people. Tricking a user into handing over access is often easier than cracking a well-audited smart contract.<\/p>\n

The firm urged both institutions and large holders to rely on multi-signature cold storage solutions and to treat private key security as non-negotiable.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February was unusually quiet for crypto thieves. After months of eye-watering losses, the industry recorded just $26.5 million in total hack and scam-related damages last month \u2014 the smallest monthly figure in 11 months, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield. It\u2019s a number that stands in sharp contrast to the carnage seen in early 2025, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":138976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138975"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/138976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}