Crypto Hacks Hit $1.18B in Q3 2026, Led by Bitget and Liquid Network

Crypto hackers stole $1.18 billion across 107 documented incidents in the third quarter of 2026 (July through September), according to a quarterly security report from Hacken published October 15. The quarter ranks as the most damaging since Q1 2025.

Details

Four incidents accounted for 80% of quarterly losses:

According to Hacken, 77% of total losses — roughly $906M — stemmed from compromised third-party suppliers, developer tools, and unaudited infrastructure. Smart contract attacks were the most common vector: 71 incidents totaling $228M. The median loss per incident was just $670,000, and 98 of the 107 incidents fell below the $10M mark.

Recovery efforts offset some of the damage: Liquid Network's white-hat team returned $272M, and platform operators covered another $410M. That leaves roughly $384M unrecovered — 32% of gross losses.

What It Means for the Market

For context, Q1 2025 saw $1.6B in total losses, driven largely by the Bybit hack ($1.4B, attributed to North Korea). The current quarter's $1.18B is below that peak, but Hacken's data points to a structural shift: three of the four largest Q3 incidents involved external dependencies or supply-chain compromises rather than flaws in the core protocol. The firm recommends expanding security audits to cover third-party tools and supplier pipelines — the vector that now accounts for most industry losses.

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