Crypto Hacks Surge in January, Phemex Loses $69M

The crypto industry suffered $73.9 million in losses from 19 hacking incidents in January 2025, according to a report by Immunefi, a leading Web3 security platform. This marks a ninefold increase from the previous month but a 44.6% decline compared to January 2024, when losses surpassed $133 million.

The largest attack targeted Phemex, a Singapore-based centralized exchange, which lost $69.1 million to hackers. Additionally, DeFi options platform Moby Trade suffered a $2.5 million exploit. Other affected platforms included Orange Finance, IPC, The Idols NFT, UniLend Finance, Odos, Laura Ai, Pika Infinity, and Sorra, though no fraud cases were reported.

Among blockchain networks, BNB Chain was the most targeted, accounting for 50% of the month’s on-chain losses from 10 separate attacks. Ethereum followed, contributing 25% of total losses. Arbitrum and Base each saw two attacks, while Optimism faced one.

Immunefi has been instrumental in Web3 security, awarding over $112 million to ethical hackers for 3,000+ bug bounty reports. The largest payout to date was $10 million for identifying a critical vulnerability in Wormhole’s cross-chain protocol. The platform, boasting a 45,000-strong security research community, claims to have prevented $25 billion in potential losses across protocols such as Polygon, Optimism, Chainlink, The Graph, Synthetix, and MakerDAO.

As hacking threats continue to escalate, cybersecurity measures remain crucial in safeguarding digital assets and reinforcing trust in blockchain networks.