Cryptocurrency-related hacks resulted in nearly $74 million in losses in January 2025, marking a staggering ninefold increase from December, according to a new report from Immunefi.
This sharp increase came despite an almost 45% drop year-overyear compared with January 2024 when the losses totaled 133 million dollars.
Two major events were responsible for the majority of losses: A hack of $69.1 million against Singapore’s Phemex exchange and a breach of $2.5 million at Moby Trade, an options trading platform.
A total of 93.5% was stolen through centralized platforms (CeFi), while DeFi protocols accounted for just 6.5%.
Phemex attack
CeFi losses were almost entirely caused by the attack on Phemex, the biggest crypto-security incident in the last month.
Although the exchange has not revealed details, the size of the theft highlights the threat that sophisticated cybercriminals continue to pose for centralized platforms.
DeFi-based platforms, on the other hand, saw smaller incidents but were more frequent. Notable breaches included an $830,000 loss for Orange Finance, and a $554.900 attack against IPC.
The Idols NFT was also affected by DeFi in January, as were UniLend Finance and Odos. Laura Ai, Pika Infinity and Sorra all suffered losses between $43,000-$330,000.
BNB Chain as top target
Immunefi’s data also highlighted a shift in hackers’ focus toward specific blockchain networks. BNB Chain was most heavily exploited in January, with 10 attacks resulting in 50% of the total crypto losses.
Ethereum recorded six attacks. Arbitrum and Base both had two. The layer-2 network Optimism suffered a single attack.
Despite the month-over-month spike in total losses, January 2025’s figures were significantly lower than a year prior, suggesting improved security measures across parts of the industry.
Immunefi’s findings reinforce the ongoing vulnerabilities in both CeFi and DeFi, particularly as hackers continue to refine their tactics to exploit weaknesses in digital asset platforms.
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