Dragonfly partner: The DeFi “hacker apocalypse” has not materialized; the annualized amount stolen in 2026 is only $1.89 billion

Dragonfly partner Haseeb pointed out that in 2026, the amount stolen in DeFi on an annualized basis is approximately $1.89 billion, lower than the level in 2025, and the DeFi “hacker apocalypse” has not truly arrived.
(Background recap: Immunefi: In the first half of 2026, the number of crypto hacker attacks hit an all-time high, with total losses of less than $1 billion)
(Background add-on: Did DeFi become a hackers’ playground? 13 attacks in one month, with $630 million siphoned)

Table of contents

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• OpenZeppelin’s pessimism
• Data: Attack structure is changing, not worsening
• DeFi overview of attacks in the first half of the year

Today on X, Dragonfly partner Haseeb posted that the DeFi “hacker apocalypse” has not really arrived. He cited chart data showing that, based on cumulative data within 2026 and the current execution pace, the amount stolen in DeFi on an annualized basis is approximately $1.89 billion. The total stolen amount since the beginning of this year is $986 million, which is lower than the level in 2025.

OpenZeppelin’s pessimism

In his post, Dragonfly partner Haseeb directly responded to OpenZeppelin co-founder Manuel Aráoz’s earlier pessimistic views on DeFi security. Aráoz believes that as models such as GLM 5.2, Fable, and GPT 5.6 have gone live and are being actively used by attackers, smaller DeFi protocols are on the verge of a “hacker apocalypse.”

Haseeb believes that large protocols have already completed more security hardening measures, so overall capital security has not deteriorated. What has truly changed is:

• Total number of attacks is rising — the number of hacker attacks has indeed increased
• Single-incident size is declining faster — the average amount stolen per incident has shrunk
• Targets are shifting downward — attackers are focusing more on smaller protocols and abandoned maintenance projects

Data: Attack structure is changing, not worsening

The data charts Haseeb shared show that the annualized rate of DeFi theft as of now in 2026 is $1.89 billion. If projected across the full year, it would be about $3.8 billion. However, this figure still falls within the historical range and has not broken the 2025 theft scale.

From another angle, attack counts are rising while total amounts are falling, indicating that the safety average in the DeFi space is improving. The security hardening effect for large protocols is indeed reflected in the data, but the “attack noise” from smaller protocols is higher.

Overview of DeFi attacks in the first half of the year

In fact, the first-half report published by Immunefi on July 10 also points to the same conclusion: in the first half of 2026, the number of crypto hacker attacks hit a historical high, but total losses are under $1 billion, lower than the cumulative amount in the same period of 2025. A “more volume, better quality” trend in DeFi security is taking shape.

For investors, this means the security foundation of the DeFi ecosystem is improving steadily, but risk exposure for smaller protocols and long-tail projects is still worth keeping an eye on.