February was exceptionally serene for us crypto thieves. After months of staggering losses, the industry recorded just $26.5 million in total damages related to hacks and scams last month – the smallest monthly amount in 11 months, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield.

This is a figure in stark contrast to the carnage seen in early 2025, when a single breach resulted in the loss of $1.5 billion from a cryptocurrency exchange Bybit.

2 attacks caused the most damage

Of the 15 incidents recorded in February, two attacks were responsible for most of the losses. The larger of them hit YieldBlox, a lending group managed by DAO, on February 21. The attackers manipulated token prices to extort $10 million from the protocol.

On the same day, the decentralized identity platform IoTeX was also attacked – nearly $9 million was seized as a result of a private key vulnerability. Together, these two events accounted for over 70% of the month’s total losses.

Compared to January, this decline is difficult to ignore. PeckShield reports that the $26.5 million total for February represents a 69% decline from the $86 million recorded just a month earlier.

#PeckShieldAlarm In February 2026, there were 15 major breaches in the crypto space with a total value of $26.5 million, a 98.2% year-over-year decline compared to February 2025 ($1.5 billion, including $1.4 billion #Bybit drainage) and a noticeable decrease of 69.2% m/m compared to January 2026 (losses amounting to USD 86.01 million).#Top5 Hacks:… pic.twitter.com/Svp7SZWp5w

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) March 1, 2026

According to a PeckShield spokesman, part of the explanation is simply the lack of a hack that made headlines and cost billions of dollars. When no single attack dominates the numbers, the totals seem much more manageable.

Market conditions also played a role. In early February, the price of bitcoin fell below $70,000, triggering a broad market correction that seemed to divert attention from attacks on the protocols.

During turbulent periods, investors and institutions are busy managing losses and shifting liquidity. Reports suggest that this type of environment deters exploit activity rather than encourages it.

Cryptocurrency security standards are becoming more and more stringent

Improvement may not depend solely on luck or timing. Analysts say tighter risk controls, tighter counterparty vetting and better real-time monitoring across major platforms have contributed to a safer environment.

Artificial intelligence is recognized as a growing force in the fight against vulnerabilities. Automated code checking, anomaly detection tools, and pre-deployment attack simulations support detect problems earlier – before they can be exploited.

Experts say if safety standards keep pace with the pace of innovation, losses could continue to decline throughout the rest of the year.

Phishing remains a persistent threat

Not everything is going in the right direction. Phishing attacks – where criminals impersonate trusted contacts or platforms to steal login credentials and private keys – remain a grave and ongoing problem.

Losses related to wallet-fraud phishing programs dropped sharply in 2025, from $494 million to $83 million. But the threat has not disappeared.

According to PeckShield, bad actors are increasingly turning their attention away from attacking code and towards people. Getting a user to hand over access is often easier than breaking a well-validated shrewd contract.

The company urged both institutions and huge holders to rely on multi-signature storage solutions and treat private key security as non-negotiable.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView