Dragonfly Partner Dismisses AI-Driven DeFi 'Hackpocalypse' Fears
Dragonfly's managing partner Haseeb Qureshi contends the anticipated AI hacking apocalypse never materialized, pointing to decreasing total value stolen and median hack sizes when compared to 2025.
Concerns that artificial intelligence would unleash a series of devastating hacks across decentralized finance (DeFi), dubbed the "hackpocalypse," have failed to come to fruition, says Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly.
Despite the number of incidents climbing to an unprecedented level, the median hack amount has fallen beneath $500,000 throughout the current year, compared to more than $2 million in 2025. According to Qureshi, this trend indicates that bad actors leveraging AI are focusing on "small protocols and abandonware," whereas major DeFi platforms have successfully strengthened their defenses against AI-related threats.
When excluding months with anomalous large-scale incidents, including the February 2025 Bybit breach alongside the Drift Protocol and KelpDAO compromises in April this year, 2026 continues to demonstrate lower monthly stolen value compared to the prior year, Qureshi noted.
These remarks follow concerns expressed by Manuel Aráoz, founder of blockchain security platform OpenZeppelin, who stated he regards "all of DeFi unsafe," pointing to the increasing capability of AI coding agents to detect smart contract vulnerabilities.
Broader industry data, encompassing centralized platforms, wallet compromises and phishing attacks, in addition to DeFi exploits, presents a more concerning scenario. Throughout April, cryptocurrency hacks escalated dramatically, leading to approximately $644 million in losses, representing the highest monthly total in over a year last witnessed in February 2025 when the $1.4 billion Bybit breach elevated monthly losses to $1.46 billion, based on DefiLlama data.
Cryptocurrency Hacks Drop 47% During H1, Though Industry Not Necessarily More Secure: CertiK
Cryptocurrency hack losses declined 46.8% on a year-over-year basis to $1.32 billion during the first half of 2026, yet blockchain security firm CertiK contended that the Web3 sector's reduced headline losses don't automatically translate to enhanced industry security.
Despite representing a substantial decrease in monetary value, the previous year's statistics were distorted by the $1.4 billion Bybit incident, which stands as the largest cryptocurrency hack in history, CertiK informed Cointelegraph.
The statistics highlight the ongoing threat that North Korean hackers represent to the cryptocurrency sector, with TRM Labs estimating in April that they have stolen in excess of $6 billion worth of cryptocurrency since 2017.