Opinion: AI Has Not Yet Ushered in the DeFi 'Hacker Doomsday,' This Year's Attack Losses Down Overall

BlockBeats News, July 14th, Dragonfly General Partner Haseeb Qureshi stated that the previously feared DeFi "hacker doomsday" scenario caused by AI has not occurred. Data shows that although the number of hacking incidents reached a new high in 2026, the median loss per attack has dropped to below $500,000, compared to over $2 million in 2025.

Haseeb believes that attackers utilizing AI are currently mainly targeting small protocols with weak security, while large DeFi protocols have been gradually enhancing their defenses. Excluding the 2025 Bybit hack and major attacks in 2026 such as KelpDAO and Drift Protocol, the average monthly theft amount this year remains lower than last year.

However, blockchain security firm CertiK pointed out that losses in the crypto industry due to hacking in the first half of 2026 have decreased by 46.8% year-on-year to $1.32 billion, but this does not necessarily indicate a significant improvement in industry security. It stated that last year's data was significantly affected by the $1.4 billion Bybit hack, and over 70% of losses in the second quarter of this year still stem from the KelpDAO and Drift Protocol attacks, which are widely believed to be associated with a North Korean hacker group.