Crypto Losses Reach $370M in January 2026, Highest in 11 Months: CertiK

The amount of cryptocurrency stolen through exploitations and scams skyrocketed to $370.3 million in January 2026, marking the highest monthly total in nearly a year, as per data compiled by blockchain security firm CertiK.

Key Takeaways

Cryptocurrency losses soared to $370.3 million in January 2026, the highest in 11 months.
Phishing and social engineering accounted for most of the losses, with one scam alone costing $284 million.
Significant exploits were reported, including hacks at Step Finance and Truebit.

According to CertiK’s report, there were at least 40 incidents of exploitation and scams during January, with the majority of the losses attributed to a single case.

One victim faced a staggering loss of approximately $284 million due to a large-scale social engineering attack, demonstrating how single incidents can dramatically impact monthly statistics.

Crypto Losses Reach $370M in January 2026, Highest in 11 Months: CertiK

Phishing Leads to $311M in Crypto Losses as January Theft Surges

Phishing scams emerged as the leading cause of theft, totaling $311.3 million of the overall stolen funds.

This January’s losses reflect nearly a fourfold increase compared to January 2025, when criminals managed to steal $98 million, and are more than three times the $117.8 million lost in December.

This total marks the highest figure since February 2025, when losses hit around $1.5 billion following the hack of the Bybit exchange, which accounted for $1.4 billion of that figure, according to CertiK.

While phishing and scams contributed to the majority of losses, on-chain exploitation continues to pose a significant threat.

PeckShield, another blockchain security firm, reported that the largest hack in January targeted Step Finance, a decentralized finance portfolio tracker on Solana. Attackers successfully siphoned off approximately $28.9 million by breaching several treasury wallets, taking 261,000 SOL in the process.

The second major exploit impacted the Truebit protocol, which lost about $26.4 million on January 8 due to a flaw in a smart contract that allowed an attacker to mint tokens at a very low cost, which subsequently caused a notable drop in the price of the TRU token.

Additionally, PeckShield highlighted other significant hacks, including a $13.3 million breach on SwapNet and a $7 million attack affecting the Saga network. In total, PeckShield documented 16 hacks throughout January, resulting in losses of $86 million. Although this figure was slightly less than the previous year, it indicates a worrying rise from December, showcasing the ongoing volatility and risks associated with crypto security.

Crypto Crime Reaches All-Time High of $154B in 2025, Says Chainalysis

Concerns regarding crypto-related crime continue to escalate. Chainalysis reported that illicit cryptocurrency addresses received an unprecedented $154 billion in 2025, representing a significant surge from the prior year.

In a noteworthy case, U.S. prosecutors charged Ronald Spektor, a 23-year-old from Brooklyn, with stealing around $16 million in cryptocurrency from approximately 100 Coinbase users through a phishing and social engineering scheme.

According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Spektor impersonated a Coinbase employee and manipulated victims by claiming their funds were in immediate danger, pressuring them to transfer their cryptocurrency to wallets he controlled.

Authorities indicated that the scheme employed panic tactics instead of sophisticated technical hacks. Operating under the online moniker “lolimfeelingevil,” Spektor purportedly alerted victims to the risk of imminent theft to prompt swift decisions, overriding any skepticism they might have had.