Bybit blocked more than $300 million in unauthorized withdrawals during the 
final quarter of last year — a figure that puts February&#8217;s total crypto theft 
losses in sharp relief. Related Reading: Bitcoin Crosses 20 Million Coins 
Mined — And Only 1 In 20 Remains According to security firm Nominis, close to 
$50 million was stolen across the entire crypto industry last month, a 
fraction of what Bybit alone says it turned away in just three months. 
Attackers Home In On Human Error The drop from January&#8217;s $385 million in 
losses might look like progress, but security researchers say the more 
significant story is where the attacks are coming from. Social engineering — 
scams that trick people into handing over access — caused more cumulative 
damage in February than traditional software exploits did. Phishing campaigns 
climbed sharply during the month, with criminals sending fraudulent messages 
designed to get users to click malicious links or sign transactions they 
shouldn&#8217;t. The most common method was authorization abuse. Victims were 
manipulated into granting wallet permissions without realizing what they&#8217;d 
approved. Once those permissions were in place, attackers could move funds out 
freely. Private individuals bore the brunt of these attacks, not exchanges or 
large protocols. One Breach Drove Most Of The Damage A single incident 
accounted for most of February&#8217;s losses. Step Finance, a portfolio analytics 
platform built on Solana, was drained of approximately $30 million. Strip that 
one event out, and February would have been remarkably quiet by recent 
standards. The broader numbers back that up. Blockchain security company 
PeckShield put February losses at $26.5 million — the lowest monthly figure 
since March 2025. PeckShield credited stronger risk controls and better 
security practices across the industry for part of the decline. Big Losses 
Still Loom Over The Industry Even with a quieter month on the books, the 
industry&#8217;s annual toll remains staggering. Data from Chainalysis shows crypto 
hacks cost the industry $3.4 billion last year. That figure underscores how 
much ground still needs to be covered before theft can be called a contained 
problem. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Break 5-Month Streak With 2nd 
Consecutive Week Of Inflows Bybit&#8217;s own numbers offer a window into how much 
active work that requires. The exchange said its fraud systems flagged roughly 
350 high-risk addresses and stopped around 8,000 users from falling into 
potential scams — all in a single quarter. Reports indicate that while large- 
scale protocol attacks appear to be easing, the rise in scams targeting 
everyday users signals that criminals are simply redirecting their efforts. 
Better smart contract audits and stronger on-chain monitoring may be closing 
one door. But as long as people can be deceived into approving the wrong 
transaction, another door stays open. Featured image from Trillium Mutual 
Insurance, chart from TradingView

Crypto Thieves Pivot To Phishing As Protocol Hacks Decline In February

Stephen Gregory, a former compliance executive at CEX.IO and Gemini, has taken 
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running SEC lawsuit.

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Ghana’s SEC could grant a full license to sandbox participants as early as six 
months, provided that their products are market-ready and that they tick all 
regulatory boxes.

Ghana greenlights 11 crypto companies for regulatory sandbox

Clear Street and Marex Group are planning to offer prediction markets to 
clients, with Kalshi’s CEO tipping it to become a “core pillar of the 
financial ecosystem.”

Prime brokers push Wall Street access to prediction markets: Report

Ripple moves to secure an Australian financial services license, positioning 
its blockchain payments network for deeper expansion across Asia-Pacific while 
tightening regulatory footing in one of the region’s most active digital asset 
markets. Ripple Strengthens Global Compliance Network With Australian License 
Plan Ripple plans to secure an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) to 
expand its […]

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