January 2026 in the cryptocurrency market reached record levels with losses reaching $370 million. Latest data flows have revealed that losses have increased nearly fourfold compared to the same period last year. These damages, which had a shocking effect on the market, revealed the effects of undesirable social engineering techniques and phishing attacks.
Dynamics of Attacks in January
The $370 million loss that hit the crypto ecosystem in January was attributed to a number of small events; But what attracted the most attention was the massive abuse that occurred as a result of a single personnel error. According to the data announced by CertiK, which operates in the field of blockchain security, a total of 40 security violations were detected. A significant portion of these are not based on smart contracts, but on phishing attacks that directly target users.
Alarming Increase in Phishing and Social Engineering
Most of the losses occurred through phishing attacks. The contribution of such attacks alone to the total loss was $311 million. In the most devastating incident, attackers posed as Trezor’s customer support team and captured the victim’s recovery token, gaining full access to his wallet. In this incident, 1,459 BTC and over 2 million LTC were instantly withdrawn from the wallet. This shows that solutions such as hardware wallets are also ineffective when personal keys are shared.
It is noteworthy that the losses experienced in January increased rapidly. A 214 percent increase in crypto theft was revealed compared to December 2025. Recently, attackers have made more use of fake support messages and leaked wallet information rather than code vulnerabilities, which has changed the direction of threats.
Reflections on the Market and Platforms
Attacks of this scale go beyond users to impact exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, market liquidity, and regulatory-driven processes. Large losses cause platforms to face tighter regulatory controls. Although new measures are taken to protect user assets, this situation increases both legal expenses and operational costs.
It is observed that platforms allocate more budget to cyber security audits, threat monitoring tools and emergency funds to ensure security. As a result, profit margins may decrease or user fees may increase. Although these investments add protection, they create additional burden on the platforms.
Frequent losses and their repercussions also lead to erosion of user trust. Some investors may withdraw their funds and move away from the platform or choose competitors after receiving news of a significant attack. This situation negatively affects both the user base and market liquidity of the platforms and limits their growth potential.
Investors and Security Perspective
Nowadays, it is considered insufficient for investors to rely only on the security of the platforms. URL checking, avoiding contact with support messages from unknown sources, and not sharing recovery phrases under any circumstances have become core behaviors. In fund management, it is necessary to undertake all the responsibility brought by self-custodial solutions in exchange for the usefulness of central platforms. For this reason, most investors minimize risks by dividing their funds across multiple wallets and platforms.
Platforms’ security record, audit reports and reactions to events are now as decisive as price volatility and liquidity in investor decisions.
