Crypto hacks drop 86% with $18.18M stolen in October

In a positive turn for crypto security, just $18.18 million was hacked in October, spanning 15 incidents, according to PeckShield. The figure represents an 85.7% fall from September’s $127.06 million total.

Garden Finance, Typus Finance, and Abracadabra suffered the heaviest blows, contributing $16.2 million to the overall losses. As a result, the report indicates that October was one of the less tumultuous months for crypto-related breaches, reflecting improved protocol security.

Hackers stole over $10 million from Garden Finance

Garden Finance’s team announced on October 30 that attackers had stolen over $10 million through a solver breach. Though the hack was isolated to the solver’s inventory, it still bumped October’s overall losses.

Without that incident, the tally would have stayed around $7.18 million — the lowest monthly loss since early 2023. By contrast, earlier months of 2025 saw multiple multi-million-dollar attacks targeting decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and cross-chain protocols, driving the year’s cumulative total losses past the $1 billion mark by mid-year.

Sui-based yield platform Typus Finance was also the victim of an oracle manipulation attack, which drained off as much as $3.4 million on October 15th. The exploit was later linked to a flaw in a TLP contract, causing its native token to tumble by 35%.

Around the same time, Abracadabra, a DeFi lending platform, was hit by yet another exploit — its third overall — which cost it about $1.8 million in MIM tokens. The attack was down to a smart contract bug that allowed the thieves to bypass capital verification.

Although the number of hack losses fell in October, analysts believe it is too early for the industry to be complacent. They noted that hackers are still perfecting new techniques, and some attacking groups, especially those linked to North Korea, are even trying to insert malware directly into blockchain systems.

By early October, North Korean hackers had already stolen more than $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency this year, according to Elliptic. Intelligence agencies disclosed that at least some part of this could well be slated for the country’s nuclear and missile programs.

More traders trust crypto as much as traditional banks

Despite ongoing incidents of crypto losses, user confidence in digital assets continues to rise. The latest survey from the National Cryptocurrency Association found that 76% of participants now trust cryptocurrency as much as, or even more than, traditional banks. 

However, while public confidence in cryptocurrencies has undoubtedly been on the rise, many analysts still doubt their value as investments. Corey Frayer, the director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America, likened purchasing crypto to placing an NFL bet. He said the assets were all made out of thin air and that their value depended largely on popular interest in the technology itself.

Amanda Fischer, COO of Better Markets, also expressed concern over the absence of the kind of market oversight that governs traditional investments. She cautioned that even when crypto ETFs are purchased through banks or brokerages, the underlying assets themselves remain unregulated. She asked crypto traders to: “Treat any cryptocurrency investment like you would any sort of budget for sports betting or gambling; only put up what you can afford to lose.”

She also warned that crypto is an “attractive honeypot for hackers,” given how easily it can be stolen and subsequently laundered. Following a turbulent year of high-value exploits, October’s steep drop in crypto hack losses is a promising development for the industry; yet, it remains to be seen whether this decrease represents long-term stability or temporary respite.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.