Crypto investors lost $939.86 million across 135 verified exploits in the first half of 2026, according to security research firm Ack3. Security audits proved largely ineffective: 94.4% of stolen funds came from code or infrastructure that auditors never examined. Two mega-heists dominate the tally: Kelp DAO (rsETH, $292m) and Drift Protocol on Solana ($285m), totaling $577m or 61% of everything stolen over the period. Most hacks exploited compromised private keys or signing infrastructure through social engineering, not bugs in audited smart contracts. Ack3 reveals that 17 of the 20 most relevant recent audits were at least six months old when the attacks occurred.
Source: Read the original article
