Crypto Heists Hit $142M: What Hackers Don’t Want You To Know About July’s Blockchain Blitz

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If you thought the world of cryptocurrency was just people in hoodies yelling “HODL!” and inventing coins with dubious dog mascots, allow me to disappoint you. In July, hackers decided to treat crypto platforms like one big online garage sale, quietly making off with over $140 million. Not to be outdone by last month’s carnage, they upped their take by 27%, as per PeckShield, the party poopers of blockchain security.

  • Crypto platforms mislaid (well, hackers misappropriated) a modest $142 million across 17 hacks in July. Possibly in the world’s fastest combined getaway.
  • Attackers moved laundered funds with the kind of speed that’d make a caffeine-fueled squirrel jealous.
  • CoinDCX (who, presumably, now have trust issues) and GMX led the “Ouch, my wallet!” leaderboards.

PeckShield looked into the digital carnage and calculated that July’s total losses hit $142 million, up from June’s mere $111.6 million. Seventeen hacks, with most of the action clustered in just five incidents. If you run a crypto platform and didn’t get hacked, I suppose that’s your newsletter win for the month. 🏆

The thieves seem to be refreshing their playbooks more often than I refresh my browser — platforms barely have time to tweet “We’re looking into it” before their crypto is halfway to Timbuktu.

Stars of the Crypto Bungle: CoinDCX & GMX

CoinDCX, India’s answer to “What could possibly go wrong?”, made headlines for losing $44.2 million on July 19. Early rumors said: “server breach!” But plot twist: the police fingered malware delivered through a fake job offer. Note to self: say no to suspiciously lucrative positions at companies with two employees and a Hotmail address.

It’s a sobering lesson: even the best-dressed exchanges can trip over a banana peel left by a social engineering prankster.

#PeckShieldAlert In July 2025, ~17 major crypto hacks were recorded, resulting in total losses of $142M—a 27.2% increase (from $111.6M in June). Notably, the #GMX exploiter has returned ~$40.5M worth of cryptos, including 10K ETH and 10.5M $FRAX.#Top5 Hacks in July 2025:…

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) August 1, 2025

GMX — a decentralized derivatives protocol (which is tech speak for “complicated and, therefore, hackable”) — clocked in as the second-luckiest victim, losing $42 million to a contract vulnerability. The crooks seemingly had a change of heart (or, more likely, fear of being tracked) and returned $40.5 million. Apparently, even crypto villains are feeling the inflation squeeze. 😬

hackers are always one leap ahead, possibly wearing jetpacks at this point.

Laundering: Now With Added Turbo

Attackers aren’t just pilfering crypto; they’re moving it faster than you can say “rug pull.” According to Global Ledger (who spend their days peering at blockchains and hoping nobody hacks them), July’s hackers laundered funds in literal seconds. As in: the fastest took just 4 seconds — which is less time than it takes to say, “Wait, what just happened?”

One laundering odyssey wrapped up in under 3 minutes, presumably because hackers also have lunch breaks. Local compliance teams and regulators live in a constant state of whiplash: by the time they notice something’s off, the funds have already flown the virtual nest. Only 4.6% of assets were ever recovered in the first half of 2025. (For context: your odds are better buying a lottery ticket while being chased by a goose.)

The report summed it up with a doomsday flourish: speed is now the new secret weapon. Most July exploits came from contract bugs, bad permissions, or keys wandering off like unsupervised toddlers at a mall. Present-day security tools are, generously, one brisk walk behind.

Unless platforms invent a way to spot attacks before they happen (a time machine, perhaps?), hackers will keep dancing circles around everyone else. In the meantime, hold onto your wallets — or maybe just hide them under your mattress. At least, until mattresses get Wi-Fi.

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2025-08-01 10:35