The cryptocurrency sector suffered a staggering loss in February, bringing fraud, exploits and hacking to nearly $1.533 billion in total. Blockchain security company Certik. Bulk Of these losses, it comes from a $1.4 billion attack on Bibit, marking the biggest code robbery in history.
On February 21, hackers targeted Crypto Exchange Bybit and reportedly seized control of the storage wallet. Certik attributed the attack to the North Korean Lazarus Group, the same entity responsible for the $650 million Ronin Bridge Hack in March 2022.
The FBI later confirmed that North Korean operatives were behind the Bibit violations and began diversifying stolen funds across thousands of blockchain addresses.
Explore: Best New Cryptocurrencies to Invest in 2025
Bibit hack increases crypto loss by 1,500% February
The massive Bibit exploit skewed the overall loss figures for February significantly. Compared to January, the February figures represent an increase of nearly 1,500% when losses reached $98 million.
flat when Last month, excluding Bybit losses, Crypto Hacks and scams still reached $126 million, up 28.5% from the previous month.
The second-largest hack of the month targets Infini, the payment company for Stablecoin, which resulted in a $49 million theft on February 24th.
Certik's research reveals that the critical wallets used in the exploits are pre-involved in the development of Infini's smart contracts. The attacker retained control and was able to redeem all vault tokens.
“The exploit highlights key vulnerabilities and shows how administrator privileges become a single point of failure,” Certik said in a February 27 report. The company emphasized the importance of securing a private key to prevent similar attacks.
Combining all the February incidents confirmed $1.5 billion in losses in exploits, hacks and fraud.
The Bybit incident is the biggest we have recorded since the 2022 Ronin Bridge Exploit, also carried out by Lazarus.
For more information, see below
pic.twitter.com/n1fv9x0ynh
– certik alert (@certikalert) February 28, 2025
Following the attack, Infini's team tried to negotiate with the hackers, repaid the rest and provided 20% of the stolen funds in exchange for avoiding legal consequences.
However, there is a 48-hour deadline length As of the latest data on Etherscan, the hacker's wallet still holds over 17,000 ether, worth around $43 million.
The third biggest exploit of the month involved Decentralization Loan protocol Zklend lost $10 million to hackers on February 12th.
Explore: 10 coins with high returns: Crypto Forecast 2025
The threat of rising security in the crypto space
Certik identified a wallet compromise as a major cause of Crypto losses in February, followed by a code vulnerability, resulting in a $20 million loss and a $1.8 million phishing scam.
Crypto Hacks was on a downward trend towards the end of 2024, but a massive bibit attack in February rekindled concerns over security vulnerabilities.
Previously, December recorded its lowest annual monthly loss of $28.6 million, starting with $63.8 million in November and $115.8 million in October. But with the rise in sophisticated cyber threats, experts warn that 2025 could see a revival with a massive crypto exploit.
Explore: 10 Best AI Crypto Coins to Invest in 2025
Key takeout
- Crypto losses surged in February, reaching $1.53 billion, primarily due to a $1.4 billion bibit hack.
- North Korean Lazarus group was behind a Bibit violation with stolen funds There is Distributed across multiple blockchain addresses.
- Security vulnerabilities remain a major concern, with wallet compromise and management privileges exploiting drive losses.
Crypto's post-loss reached $1.53 billion in February, with the $1.4 billion Bybit Hack: Certik first appeared in 99bitcoins.
