Riding the Waves: Major Crypto Hacks of May 2025
Cryptocurrency thefts during May amounted to a shocking $244 million, with Sui and Cetus recovering an impressive $157 million of the stolen funds.
buckle up, buckaroos! May 2025 was a bumpy ride for the crypto world, with approximately $244.1 million in losses reported. A staggering 39.29% decrease from April's figures, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield. This rollercoaster month saw around 20 significant incidents, with some stolen assets successfully frozen thanks to coordinated recovery efforts.
The Cetus Protocol: The Hack Heard 'Round the Blockchain
The month's most audacious act was undoubtedly the $220 million heist of the Cetus Protocol. The team behind this decentralized exchange, running on the Sui and Aptos blockchains, found themselves on the wrong end of a smart contract wrench. Attackers managed to exploit a liquidity pool vulnerability, draining the exchange of a hefty chunk of assets.
However, all hope is not lost. Through a creative effort involving Sui's validators and Cetus, they froze $157 million of the stolen loot, keeping 71% of the ill-gotten gains at bay.
The Rest of the Month's Villains
- Cork Protocol lost a cool $12 million in an undisclosed incident.
- North Korea (or conspiratorially speaking, someone brilliantly disguised as North Korea) made off with $5.2 million.
- The MBU token swallowed a $2.2 million pill courtesy of an exploit.
- MapleStory Universe followed suit with a $1.2 million breach.
While the numbers might seem daunting, May's findings represent a slight improvement compared to the security losses of previous months in 2025.
The first quarter of the year saw a whopping $1.63 billion in stolen cryptocurrencies. PeckShield reported that an astonishing 92% of those losses were attributed to the Bybit vulnerability.
January posted losses of over $87 million, while a surge in February led to thefts totaling $1.53 billion—mainly driven by the Bybit attack, a massive heist ranking among the largest in crypto history.
Ethereum's Bright Spots: NFT Sales Amidst the Chaos
In the midst of this chaos, there were some encouraging signs. Ethereum, the reigning blockchain powerhouse, witnessed a 30% surge in NFT sales. Even as overall sales plunged 16.7% to $105.7 million, Ethereum managed to buck the trend, showing that the NFT market remains resilient despite the broader cryptocurrency fluctuations.
Remember:
- May 2025 was a turbulent month for cryptocurrencies, with losses of approximately $244.1 million.
- The Cetus Protocol heist was the largest single event, accounting for the majority of losses.
- Attackers exploited vulnerabilities in liquidity pools to drain assets.
- Despite the setbacks, May's figures show improvement over previous months' security losses in 2025.
- Crypto theft in the first quarter of 2025 reached $1.63 billion, with 92% attributed to the Bybit vulnerability.
- phishing attacks on several Tron-based decentralized exchanges led to the theft of $3.5 million worth of tokens.
- An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for a new crypto project on the Ethereum network raised $25 million through its smart contract, with the raised funds to be used for projects development.
- The DeFi space saw a rise in popularity for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Binance Smart Chain, with an increase in XRP holders using their wallets to purchase and trade these NFTs.
- Some investors have started using their crypto wallets to make donations to charity during the month, with Ethereum and XRP being some of the more popular cryptocurrencies used for these transactions.
- Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have made their way onto decentralized exchanges (DEXs), allowing for the buying, selling, and trading of unique digital assets using popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
