February's Crypto Crime Spree Takes a Nosedive: Hack Haul Crashes to $37.7M, a 12-Month Low

CertiK's latest ledger of larceny reveals that crypto hackers and exploit artists had a relatively quiet February 2026, making off with a mere $37.7 million. That's the smallest monthly score since March 2025, suggesting even digital bandits have slow months—maybe they were too busy farming airdrops.

Where the loot went The breakdown of the heist is a classic menu of crypto calamities. Simple wallet compromises were the top earner for the bad guys, netting $16.6M. Phishing scams, the digital equivalent of a "Nigerian prince" with a MetaMask, siphoned off $8.6M. Meanwhile, price-manipulation attacks cooked the books for $11.4M, while actual code exploits were good for a modest $5.1M. The classic exit scam, the rug pull, made a humble $2.1M comeback.

Big‑ticket victims The month's "biggest bag" award goes to YieldBlox, which watched $10.6M vanish, followed by IoTeX and Foom losing $8.9M and $2.3M respectively. Instadapp and EFX also joined the unfortunate eight-figure club, each down $10.5M and $8.9M. The DeFi sector, ever the juicy target, collectively bled $14.4M, while AI-related projects saw $8.9M get up and walk away—presumably of its own volition. Smaller projects like CryptoFarm ($2.7M) also felt the pinch, while others like UCC and Hedgehog lost a mere $400k each, which in degen terms is just a few good meme coin trades. Gambling platforms, living dangerously by design, lost $2.3M.

Recovery stats In a rare win for the good guys, about 30% of the stolen funds—roughly $11.3M—were either frozen or clawed back during the month. It's not a full refund, but it's better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Trend watch February's $37.7M total represents a glorious 60% plunge from January's losses, hitting a low not seen in over a year. Interestingly, the number of incidents didn't change, meaning hackers are just as busy but apparently less successful at finding the really big vaults. Phishing losses, the cockroach of crypto crime, remained stubbornly steady at $8.6M across both months.

The bottom line: the wolves are still at the door, but lately, they've been leaving with much lighter sacks.