Crypto hack losses equal 57 cents per dollar of revenue since 2017, ARK says
The digital asset industry has lost $26.9bn to security breaches since 2017 against $47bn in cumulative on-chain revenue, according to research from ARK Invest.
Key takeaways
- 1Crypto hack losses hit $26.9bn since 2017, equal to 57 cents per $1 of cumulative on-chain revenue.
- 2Total cumulative on-chain revenue for the industry reached roughly $47bn over the nine-year period.
- 3The $6.36bn Binance hack alone exceeded overall on-chain revenue generated in 2026.
The cryptocurrency industry has lost approximately $26.9bn to security hacks since 2017, amounting to 57 cents for every dollar of cumulative on-chain revenue generated over the same period, according to research published by asset manager ARK Invest. Lorenzo Valente, the director of digital asset research at the firm, said the sector earned roughly $47bn in total cumulative on-chain revenue over those nine years.
A significant share of these losses stems from major single security breaches across central platforms and protocols. Valente said that a $6.36bn hack at cryptocurrency exchange Binance alone surpassed the total on-chain revenue generated by the entire digital asset industry so far during 2026.
ARK Invest tracks public blockchain developments and commercial trends across the digital asset sector. On-chain revenue measures the cumulative transaction fees and protocol costs paid by users to interact with smart contracts and transfer assets, making it a key metric for evaluating the real income generated by decentralized networks.
Valente warned that persistent security vulnerabilities have now become a major bottleneck restricting the broader industry's growth. The figure shows how security exploits continue to erode commercial earnings across the sector, pointing to heightened demand for protocol security, protocol testing, and stronger infrastructure risk management.
Reported and edited by the YourKhabri desk under our editorial policy. Nothing here is investment advice.