Crypto losses from hacks, scams, and exploits exceeded $650.9 million in April 2026, according to blockchain security firm CertiK. The figure makes April the worst month for the sector since March 2022, when losses were about $715 million.
Two major exploits dominated the monthly total
Most of April’s losses came from exploit-driven attacks rather than phishing or conventional scams. KiloEx recorded the largest single incident of the month, losing about $291.3 million. Drift Protocol followed with losses of roughly $285.23 million. Combined, those two cases accounted for more than $576 million of the monthly total.
Other notable incidents included Rhea Finance at around $18.47 million, Grinex at about $16.23 million, and a contract exploit identified as 0x8B84 with losses near $6.585 million.
Wallet compromise was the biggest attack category
By attack type, wallet compromise was by far the leading source of losses, responsible for more than $610 million. Price manipulation ranked second at about $18.88 million, while code vulnerabilities caused nearly $17 million in losses.
Phishing attacks were smaller in aggregate but still produced $3.57 million in damage across multiple cases. Front-end attacks added another $544,703.
DeFi platforms absorbed most of the damage
CertiK’s sector breakdown shows DeFi remained the primary target. DeFi platforms lost nearly $609.39 million in April alone. Centralized platforms recorded about $8.48 million in losses, while gaming-related projects lost roughly $3.41 million.
Bridges accounted for around $2.83 million in losses, and other categories totaled nearly $9.85 million. CertiK also said the number of security incidents increased steadily from January through April, with April posting the highest activity level.
Incident activity kept rising into April
The data points to sustained security pressure across crypto, especially around DeFi protocols and wallet-related attack surfaces. With both the total losses and the number of incidents climbing in April, the month stands out as one of the most severe periods for crypto security since 2022.