Crypto hack losses equal 57 cents per $1 earned onchain: Ark’s Valente
Summary
Crypto hacks have cost the industry about $26.9 billion since 2017, compared with $47 billion in onchain revenue, according to ARK researcher Lorenzo Valente. He estimates $8.7 billion has been lost to hacks year to date, exceeding estimated 2026 annual onchain revenue of $5.6 billion. Major incidents cited include exploits affecting Bitget, Liquid Network and Drift Protocol. Valente says losses could surpass onchain revenue by year-end for the first time since 2020. Security concerns are also weighing on institutional interest in DeFi; total value locked fell nearly 10% after the Binance exploit, from $85.9 billion to $77.4 billion, according to DefiLlama.
