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.
Meanwhile, federal authorities continue to clamp down on crypto-related fraud. Federal officials recently announced the seizure and forfeiture of more than $1.18 million in cryptocurrency tied to a global fraud and money laundering operation.
This move demonstrates that scams related to the cryptocurrency industry are becoming increasingly sophisticated, prompting relevant law enforcement to take the necessary measures. Notably, this operation was under the leadership of the US Secret Service, which took action against a group of criminals that targeted US citizens.
The federal law enforcement agency alleged that these criminals posed as legitimate crypto advisors and employed high-pressure tactics to persuade victims to transfer their assets into their accounts. Afterwards, the scammers converted these assets into cash.
Earlier, the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Southern District of Georgia, US Attorney Margaret E. Heap, acknowledged that the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the US Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with the United States Secret Service, dedicated itself to identifying, seizing, and forfeiting the funds involved in the illegal activity.
According to the Heap, they are now focusing on identifying the victims involved who might be eligible to receive compensation from the forfeited money.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that this investigation was initiated after a real estate agent in Richmond Hill, Georgia, discovered and reported this suspicious behaviour from a prospective buyer.
Reports indicated that the purchaser claimed to be a wealthy investor in cryptocurrency and insisted on using complex cryptocurrency transactions. At this time, the buyer pushed the agent to download a fake mobile app for the deal.
When reporters reached out to the real estate agent for comment on the situation, the agent initially argued that the app appeared to be a legitimate cryptocurrency platform. However, the agent later noted that scammers had actually operated it, using it to steal people’s money after they made transfers.
Just after the agent made this statement, the US Secret Service discovered that the scammer had deceived another victim in North Carolina to download the same fake app.
“Since cryptocurrency fraud keeps changing, our outreach programs are essential for stopping unaware Americans from becoming victims of these scams,” said James Reno, the Agent in Charge of the USSS Savannah Resident Office.
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