In May 2025, the cryptocurrency industry experienced a new wave of attacks from professional hackers who operate on commission and coordinate their actions for maximum effect. In just this month, the attackers siphoned over $302 million from the market, including $225 million from the Cetus protocol. The most dangerous were domain (DNS) attacks, which allowed them to bypass even two-factor authentication and take control of the domains of decentralized projects.
This is reported by Business • Media
Threat to the DeFi Industry: Insights from the Founder of Curve Finance
Mikhail Egorov, the founder of Curve Finance, emphasized the increasing threats to the decentralized finance sector. He noted that attackers are now exploiting vulnerabilities not only in smart contracts but also in the very infrastructure of the internet, including domain registrars. According to Egorov, such raids are becoming more extensive, and the risks for companies and users are significantly increasing.
“Different hackers could coordinate their actions across various platforms, simultaneously hacking them for greater effect and profit,” the entrepreneur explained.
In May, Curve Finance itself fell victim to a DNS attack: the attackers managed to redirect users to a malicious site, even despite implemented protective mechanisms. This underscores the weakness of traditional security systems against new types of attacks.
Scale of Losses and New Challenges for the Market
According to analysts’ reports, in May 2025, total losses from hacker attacks on crypto projects reached over $244 million. The vast majority of these funds were stolen through vulnerabilities in smart contracts, with the largest incident being the hack of the Cetus protocol, resulting in a loss of $220 million. Here, hackers manipulated prices using counterfeit tokens.
Egorov emphasized that the blockchain industry requires significantly higher cybersecurity standards than the traditional financial sector. After all, transactions on the blockchain are irreversible, and the consequences of attacks become immediate and irreparable. He also pointed out that the systematic and commissioned nature of attacks is increasing, with some hackers agreeing to bribes to carry out operations, which significantly complicates the protection of projects.
Earlier, there were reports of a hack on the cryptocurrency exchange BitoPro, resulting in the theft of $11.5 million, which also indicates the rising cyber threats to this industry.