Crypto Attacks Jump 50% in First Half of 2026

SlowMist saw more wallet, bridge, and supply chain attacks, with Ethereum hit hardest overall. AI and social engineering are also making the attack chain more complex.

Key Takeaways

• In the first half of 2026, crypto security incidents climbed to 182, while total losses totaled about $956 million.
• Wallet compromises led the way with more than $444 million in losses, followed by bridge-related attacks and Ethereum as the most affected ecosystem.
• SlowMist says AI is making attacks more effective, including through social engineering and automated deception aimed at developers and trading agents.

Crypto security incidents rose sharply in the first half of 2026, even though total losses were lower than a year earlier. In a midyear report, blockchain security firm SlowMist said it tracked 182 incidents worth about $956 million (€836 million), compared with 121 incidents and roughly $2,373 billion (€2.1 billion) in the same period last year. In other words, the market faced more attacks, but fewer massive blowups.

More Incidents, Less Damage

The data suggests the crypto market is dealing with a higher volume of attacks, but the losses are being spread differently. Contract and logic flaws were the most common issue, with 85 cases. Private key and credential compromises followed with 17 incidents, while supply chain attacks accounted for 12 cases.

The biggest losses, however, came from a relatively small number of severe exploits rather than the most frequent attack type. Supply chain attacks were responsible for about $298 million (€261 million) in losses. A single event drove much of that total higher: the Kelp DAO exploit, which cost nearly $292 million (€255 million) and was linked by researchers to a subgroup of North Korea's Lazarus Group.

Wallets and Ethereum Under Pressure

SlowMist also reports that wallet compromises were the most costly attack category by value in 2026. During the first half of the year, they caused more than $444 million (€388 million) in losses across 33 incidents, pushing code vulnerabilities out of the top spot when measured by damage. Bridge-related attacks were also a major problem, with losses topping $328 million (€287 million).

The report says Ethereum was the hardest-hit ecosystem, with around $134 million (€117 million) in related losses. For European crypto users, that matters because many DeFi apps, wallets, and cross-chain systems run on Ethereum or depend on infrastructure connected to it. That makes stronger infrastructure and tighter security practices a key issue for both users and crypto companies. The trend also fits with the recent wallet leaks, where a seed phrase generation flaw affected hundreds of wallets.

AI Makes Attacks Smarter

SlowMist also says AI is becoming part of the attack playbook. The company says AI lowers the bar for social engineering and automated attacks, and that attackers are now using it at several points in the attack chain. In one earlier case, attackers used influencer-style fake job offers and interviews to trick developers into inserting backdoored code.

The report also highlights a May 2026 incident in which an attacker used an NFT to unlock high transfer permissions, after which a chatbot decoded a hidden instruction. The connected trading agent BankrBot trusted the result and moved about $175,000 (€153,100) on-chain. The example shows that code and keys are not the only weak points. The way AI systems decide what to trust can be just as vulnerable.