Crypto Hacks Top $1 Billion in H1 2026 as Ethereum and Solana Lead Losses: Report

Crypto industry lost $1 billion to hacks during the first half of 2026, says Blockaid.

Crypto Hacks Top $1 Billion in H1 2026 as Ethereum and Solana Lead Losses: Report

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Blockaid report compares attack patterns across Ethereum and Solana networks

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Highlights
  • Ethereum lost $332 million through security incidents in H1 2026
  • Solana attacks mainly targeted keys and signing infrastructure
  • Bridge exploits remained the biggest attack vector in Q2 2026
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Crypto losses hit $1 billion (roughly Rs. 9,566 crore) during the first half of 2026 as the sector witnessed its highest tally of hacks within six months, claims on-chain security platform Blockaid. The two blockchain networks, Ethereum and Solana, experienced the biggest impact of attacks on their systems, where the value lost was worth around $332 million (roughly Rs. 3,176 crore) and $326 million (roughly Rs. 3,119 crore), respectively, according to Blockaid's Q2 2026 report on security. While code exploitation was the cause of Ethereum attacks, keys and signing infrastructure breaches were the reason behind Solana losses.

Code Exploits and Compromised Keys Drove Most Blockchain Losses

The biggest losses occurred in Ethereum due to incidents reported in H1 2026, with attackers mostly targeting vulnerabilities in applications built on blockchain technology. According to Blockaid, code exploitation was the most common cause of incidents on Ethereum, along with significant losses from key compromises at Humanity Protocol and StablR. The only major Ethereum attack in the report that involved user error was CoWSwap. 

Some commonly used attack vectors on Ethereum were highlighted by Blockaid, including bridge and smart contract vulnerabilities, privilege account exploitation, and market manipulation. According to the report, the reason Ethereum is heavily targeted is that the platform hosts some of the most valuable use cases in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, including staking solutions and decentralised exchanges. 

Compromised keys were responsible for more than 98 percent of Solana's losses through cases such as those related to Drift Protocol and Step Finance, which were attributed to North Korean hacking groups by Blockaid. However, unlike the Ethereum network, where the hackers mainly exploited vulnerabilities in the protocol code, the Solana cases focused on attacking the signer infrastructure and organisational safety, whereas a few code exploits involving Raydium and Volo accounted for the rest of the losses.

Earlier this year, a report from market insights provider Unfolded, based on data from DefiLlama, stated that the second quarter of 2026 is already the most hacked quarter on record in terms of the number of attacks, with 83 hacks of crypto protocols. Exploits on bridges were the most common form of attack in this Q2, which saw $351 million (roughly Rs. 3,358 crore) worth of funds stolen by exploiting bridges.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article

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Rahul Dhingra
Rahul Dhingra is a crypto writer at Gadgets 360, where he covers the exciting world of Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Defi and Web3. Before joining Gadgets 360, he worked as a content specialist for a European-based Crypto Exchange. Rahul loves storytelling, not just through the written word but also through the visual medium. Beyond his professional life, Rahul is a sports fanatic. Whether it’s cricket or football, his passion for the game is contagious. More
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