The first half of 2025 has seen the largest crypto scams in history, with over $2 billion lost to hacks, phishing, and outright theft. The scale, frequency, and sophistication of these attacks have eclipsed 2024, proving that as crypto adoption grows, so too does the innovation of bad actors.
The crypto scams list for H1 2025 is staggering. North Korea-linked hackers pulled off the top crypto hack in 2025. Meanwhile, phishing attacks, smart contract exploits, and deepfake-driven impersonations continue to rise. If you’re wondering why these types of crypto scams keep evolving, the answer is simple: there’s still a massive trust and education gap in the crypto space.
This article uncovers the top crypto scams in 2025, how they happened, emerging scam tactics, why people still fall for them, and how the industry can better protect users moving forward.
Top Crypto Scams and Hacks in H1 2025
Let’s break down the top crypto scams in 2025 that shocked the world in the first half of 2025.
1. Bybit Exchange Hack – $1.5 billion
On February 21, Bybit suffered a record-breaking $1.5 billion theft. The largest crypto hack in history unfolded. North Korea‑linked actors stole approximately $1.5 billion in ETH from exchange Bybit, making it the biggest crypto heist in history.
How did it happen? The North Korea‑linked Lazarus Group targeted Bybit’s multisignature (multisig) wallet system. The attackers used a spoofed interface that mimicked internal tools, tricking the security team into approving malicious transactions. With a few missteps and approvals, the entire multisig wallet was drained. Shockingly, this one hack alone accounted for around 69% of all stolen crypto funds in H1 2025, setting a dangerous precedent for other centralized exchanges.
2. Cetus Protocol Exploit – ≈ $225 Million
Emerging platforms are often prime targets for exploitation, and the Cetus Protocol attack proved just that. On May 22, a bug in the liquidity checks of the leading DEX on the Sui blockchain was ruthlessly exploited, leading to a $225 million loss.
This attack highlights one of the fastest-growing types of crypto scams in DeFi, exploiting smart contract vulnerabilities before they’re fully audited or battle-tested. It’s a reminder that in crypto, innovation without caution can be devastating.
3. Nobitex Exchange Attack – ≈ $90 Million
Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, was blindsided in June 2025 by a politically charged cyberattack that took $90 million across assets like BTC, ETH, DOGE, XRP, Solana, Tron, and TON. The operation was reportedly carried out by a pro-Israel hacker group known as Gonjeshke Darande.
Here’s what made this one unique: The attackers used burner wallets with no access to the private keys, effectively locking the stolen assets forever. This suggests the motive wasn’t financial but also a geopolitical sabotage. The Nobitex breach adds a chilling twist to the crypto scams list, showing how digital assets can be weaponized in cyberwarfare.
4. Phemex Hot Wallet Breach – $85 Million
On January 23, Phemex, a well-known exchange, lost over $85 million in one of the earliest top crypto hacks of 2025. The attackers took advantage of a vulnerability in the exchange’s hot wallet infrastructure, bypassing security layers and siphoning off multiple cryptocurrencies.
Though not the largest theft, the Phemex hack served as a wake-up call: even seasoned platforms are still exposed to basic operational risks, especially when handling high volumes of assets in hot wallets.
5. ALEX Protocol Exploit – ≈ $8.3 Million
On June 6, 2025, the Stacks-based ALEX Protocol was exploited via its self-listing logic. The attacker bypassed internal verification and drained assets totalling $8.3 million, including over 8.4 million STX and several BTC and stablecoin derivatives.
This breach showed how even Layer-1 integrated DeFi platforms aren’t immune to logical loopholes.
Top Crypto Hacks in H1 2025
Emerging Scam Tactics in 2025
Various types of crypto scams are evolving rapidly, fueled by AI, geopolitics, and greater ecosystem complexity. Here are the dominant trends:
1. Phishing and Fake Sites – $410 Million Lost
Phishing remains the leading scam category, with over $410 million lost in H1 alone. Attackers create fake sites mimicking wallets and dApps, then lure users via email or social media. These are often indistinguishable from the real thing until your funds are gone.
2. AI & Deepfake-Based Impersonation Scams
In Asia alone, 87 deepfake scam rings were dismantled in Q1. These scams involved synthetic videos of influencers, developers, or even CEOs promoting fake investment opportunities.
READ MORE: AI DeepFake Scams: How They’re Driving Fraud and Fueling Crypto Scandals
3. Celebrity Coin Copycats
From Elon Musk to local influencers, fake endorsements and cloned memecoins run rampant. These scams use hype and FOMO to drain liquidity from unsuspecting retail investors, often within hours of launch.
4. Pig Butchering Scams
This long-con tactic is on the rise. Scammers build fake romantic or friendship relationships, slowly introducing crypto “investment opportunities.” Victims are “fattened” emotionally and financially before the final “butchering.”
READ MORE: What is a Pig Butchering Scam?
Why Do People Still Fall for Scams?
Despite numerous cautionary measures implemented by crypto platforms and high-profile hacks making headlines, people continue to fall for crypto scams, and the reasons are often painfully familiar. In many cases, a mix of greed and FOMO on the part of the victim is usually a major factor. The allure of massive, fast profits or overnight riches can cloud judgment. With such a mindset, red flags start to look like green lights, especially to newcomers eager to strike gold in the next big coin or protocol.
ALSO READ: Why Do People Keep Falling for Meme Coin Scams?
But it’s not just emotional decisions, tech illiteracy plays a huge role too. Many users still don’t fully understand how wallets, private keys, seed phrases, or smart contracts work. This lack of fundamental knowledge makes them easy targets for phishing emails, fake decentralized apps (dApps), and malicious pop-ups. Scammers don’t even have to try that hard; they just repackage old tricks in sleek Web3 wrappers, and thousands fall for it.
Then there’s the problem of trusting the wrong voices. Influencers continue to act as unofficial financial advisors in the crypto space. Deepfakes and impersonation tactics are becoming scarily convincing. When someone who looks and sounds exactly like your favourite crypto YouTuber tells you to invest, it’s easy to let your guard down.
And finally, DeFi’s complexity remains a double-edged sword. While decentralized finance opens the door to financial autonomy, it also demands extreme vigilance. A single misstep, like approving a transaction on a spoofed version of a known protocol, can wipe out an entire wallet. Scammers have learned to exploit this complexity, turning DeFi into a battlefield where the unprepared are most likely to lose.
Is DeFi Doing Enough to Fight Scams?
For an ecosystem built on transparency and code, DeFi still struggles with trust. While traditional hacks often target centralized exchanges, types of crypto scams in the DeFi space are more nuanced—exploiting smart contract bugs, governance loopholes, or user inexperience. And as the crypto scams list from H1 2025 shows, many of these breaches could have been avoided with better protocols and due diligence.
The top crypto hacks in 2025, including the Cetus and ALEX Protocol exploits, exposed a troubling pattern: many DeFi platforms are rushing features to market without thorough security audits. Despite the rise of on-chain monitoring tools and bug bounty programs, attackers continue to stay one step ahead, using flash loans, oracle manipulation, or logic flaws to drain millions.
Yes, some protocols are investing more in code reviews and real-time threat detection. But is it enough? Not quite. Security in DeFi often feels reactive rather than proactive. There’s still a fragmented approach to user education, a lack of cross-project security standards, and far too much reliance on the idea that the code will just work. If DeFi is to grow beyond early adopters, it must take a hard look at its defences, not just after a hack, but before it happens.
Until platforms start treating security as infrastructure, not an afterthought, the largest crypto scams will continue to find fertile ground in decentralized finance.
Can Crypto Clean Up Its Act Before H2?
The top crypto scams in 2025 have exposed some painful truths: crypto is still deeply vulnerable, and bad actors are evolving faster than the systems meant to stop them. With over $2 billion lost in H1 alone, this year has already surpassed 2024 in both scale and sophistication. And the crypto scams list is only getting longer.
But this doesn’t have to be crypto’s permanent state. The industry has tools, talent, and community support; it just needs stronger coordination. Exchanges must double down on security transparency. DeFi platforms must stop shipping unaudited code. And users? We must move past the “degen” culture that trades caution for clout.
There’s still time to course-correct before H2. Regulators are watching, investors are demanding accountability, and the next billion users won’t enter a space that feels like the Wild West. If crypto wants mainstream trust, it has to earn it, not just with price pumps, but with integrity.
Cleaning up the space won’t be easy, but if the community can come together to prioritize user safety, squash exploit incentives, and hold bad actors accountable, we just might reduce the number of top crypto hacks showing up in future reports. Behind every statistic on the largest crypto scams is a real person, a lost investment, or a shattered belief in the future of finance.
Disclaimer: This piece is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein should be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading or investing in cryptocurrencies carries a considerable risk of financial loss. Always conduct due diligence.
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