As the cryptocurrency ecosystem matures, its vulnerabilities are no longer confined to faulty code or exploited smart contracts. In 2025, the most devastating losses are being driven by human behavior specifically, social engineering schemes that rely on deception rather than technical hacking.
According to Web3 cybersecurity firm CertiK, more than $2.1 billion has been stolen in crypto-related attacks this year, with the majority stemming from wallet compromises, phishing attacks, and operational missteps. That figure includes high-profile incidents like the $1.4 billion Bybit exchange hack the largest exploit in crypto history—linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
“This is not a failure of blockchain technology,” said CertiK co-founder Ronghui Gu. “It’s a failure of human vigilance.” In an interview with Cointelegraph, Gu explained that attackers have shifted away from exploiting code vulnerabilities because smart contracts and DeFi protocols have become more robust. Instead, they now view users—especially their behavior as the weakest link.
Phishing, Poisoning, and Deception: The Tools of Modern Crypto Theft
Phishing attacks have become the most financially damaging form of crypto crime, costing the industry over $1 billion across 296 incidents in 2024 alone. These attacks often take the form of fraudulent links, impersonation of wallet providers, or address poisoning a scheme that replaces copied wallet addresses with lookalike ones, tricking victims into sending funds to the attacker.
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In one case, a single phishing scheme drained $330.7 million worth of Bitcoin from the wallet of an elderly U.S. individual, underscoring how even non-technical users with significant holdings are being specifically targeted.
Unlike exploits that require breaching smart contract logic, these newer methods require no deep technical knowledge. Instead, hackers rely on psychological manipulation, trust abuse, and confusion tactics to deceive users. It’s a shift from coding expertise to con artistry, and it’s proving even more lucrative.
Crypto’s Future Security Lies in Educating Users, Not Just Auditing Code
The surge in social engineering-based thefts signals a pivotal moment for the crypto industry: its technical foundations may be strong, but its user base remains vulnerable. CertiK’s Gu emphasized the need for investment in wallet-level security, access control, real-time transaction monitoring, and simulation tools that allow users to test transactions before they’re executed.
While DeFi platforms have poured resources into smart contract audits and bug bounties, fewer have prioritized the end-user experience where phishing links and address spoofing attacks are still rampant. If left unaddressed, this imbalance could erode trust in the ecosystem, particularly as high-profile incidents continue to dominate headlines.
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“The blockchain code is getting stronger,” Gu noted. “But now we must fix the real bug human error.”
For the crypto community, this means pivoting its security mindset from defending protocols to defending people a shift as cultural as it is technical. Without this evolution, even the most sophisticated blockchain infrastructure may fail to protect what matters most: the user’s assets and trust.