Cyberattacks Drain $142M from Crypto Sector in July 2025, Up 27% from June

Cybercriminals stole at least $142 million from the cryptocurrency sector in July 2025, marking a 27% increase from the $111 million lost in June. The largest single incident occurred when India-based exchange CoinDCX suffered a $44 million breach on July 18, described by CEO Sumit Gupta as a “sophisticated server breach.” A company employee was arrested in connection with the attack [1]. This incident, combined with other high-profile breaches, highlights the ongoing challenges in securing digital assets.

Among the other major losses, the GMX v1 decentralized exchange was exploited for $40 million on July 11. However, the attacker returned the stolen funds days later, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield [1]. On July 16, crypto exchange BigONE was targeted in a third-party attack that compromised its hot wallet infrastructure, resulting in a $27 million loss. The month concluded with a phishing attack on WOO X on July 24, which led to the theft of $14 million [2].

The WOO X breach was executed through social engineering tactics that compromised a team member’s device. From there, attackers infiltrated the development environment and exploited system trust to drain user accounts. Over the course of two hours, multiple malicious transactions were carried out before the platform suspended withdrawals to contain the damage [3].

Rob Behnke, a blockchain security expert from Halborn, noted that the attack reflects a growing trend among hackers to target off-chain systems rather than smart contracts. While smart contract vulnerabilities can be identified and mitigated through audits, attackers are now focusing on weaknesses in backend infrastructure and processes. “As DeFi hackers grow more sophisticated and increasingly target back end systems and infrastructure, projects need to have strong security controls and processes in place to mitigate these threats,” Behnke said [3].

The stolen funds were distributed across multiple blockchain networks, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), BNB (BNB), and Arbitrum (ARB). In response, WOO X restored affected account balances from its company treasury. The overall incident underscores the evolving nature of cyber threats in the crypto space, where attackers are leveraging both technical and human vulnerabilities.

While the $142 million loss in July is 46% lower than the $266 million reported in July 2024, the month-over-month increase suggests a concerning rise in recent weeks. The data indicates that while security measures have improved over the past year, the industry remains vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated attacks [1].

Source:

[1] title: Crypto hacks top $142M in July, with CoinDCX leading losses

url: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-hacks-july-142-million-coindcx-leads-losses

[2] title: Crypto Hacks Surge in July 2025 with $142M in Losses

url: https://phemex.com/news/article/crypto-hacks-surge-in-july-2025-with-142m-in-losses_14196

[3] title: VELOUSD - Crypto hacks top $142M in July, with CoinDCX ...

url: https://mx.advfn.com/bolsa-de-valores/COIN/VELOUSD/crypto-news/96541037/crypto-hacks-top-142m-in-july-with-coindcx-leadi