Bitget, Liquid Exploits Push Crypto Hacks near $1.2B in Q3
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Bitget, Liquid exploits push Q3 crypto hacks toward $1.2B
Written by Zoltan Vardai staff writer
Edited by Yohan Yun staff editor
Bitget, Liquid exploits push Q3 crypto hacks toward $1.2B
Latest News
Published Oct 15, 2026
Compromised suppliers, developer tools and infrastructure components outside security audits drove about 77% of the quarter’s total losses, according to Hacken.
Cryptocurrency hacks soared to $1.18 billion across 107 recorded incidents in the third quarter of 2026, according to security company Hacken.
- $387 million Bitget hack
- $320 million Liquid Network exploit
- $120 million Tectonic exploit
- $115 million Coldcard firmware vulnerability
This Q3 was the most damaging quarter for crypto hacks since Q1 2025, when Bybit’s $1.4 billion loss to North Korea pushed the total to $1.6 billion.
Q3 losses in total amount and composition.
Source: Hacken
About 80% of the quarter’s losses were concentrated in four of the largest incidents, while 98 of the incidents recorded losses below $10 million. The median loss across all 107 incidents was $670,000.
While supplier compromises and infrastructure failures drove much of the stolen value, smart contract incidents were the most frequent, accounting for $228 million in losses across 71 incidents as the most exploited attack vector.
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About a third of losses was returned or reversed after Q3 crypto hacks.
- $387 million was returned or reversed, accounting for the recovery of about 33% of gross losses.
Following the Liquid Network hack, self-proclaimed “white hats” returned $272 million, representing about 85% of the stolen value.
In the Tectonic incident, Cronos validators rolled back 114 minutes of settled blockchain history, reversing about $111.2 million of the $120.4 million in affected borrowing.
Hacken urged industry participants to strengthen the cybersecurity of third-party suppliers, developer tools and other external infrastructure that may fall outside security audits.**
The company also recommended that protocols expand security audits to include oracles, bridgers, custody systems, signing authorities and other privileged components.