A new report from Swiss blockchain analytics company Global Ledger reveals that over $3.01 billion was stolen across 119 crypto hacks in the first half of 2025, surpassing the total for all of 2024. Even more alarming is a trend beyond the rising volume: speed.
The report analyzed onchain data tied to each exploit, and tracked how quickly attackers moved funds through mixers, bridges and centralized exchanges. By mapping the time between the initial incident and the final laundering endpoint, researchers found that laundering now happens in minutes, often before a hack is even disclosed.
According to the report, laundering was fully completed before the breach became public in nearly 23% of cases. In many others, the stolen funds were already in motion when victims realized what had happened. In such cases, by the time a hack is reported, it may be too late.
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How fast is fast?
As hackers get faster and more proficient at laundering stolen crypto, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) systems and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) are struggling to keep up.
In some cases, laundering happens almost instantly. In the fastest incident, funds were moved four seconds after the exploit, with full laundering completed in under three minutes.
Overall, 31.1% of laundering was completed within 24 hours, while public disclosure of hacks took an average of 37 hours. With attackers typically moving funds 15 hours after a breach, they often have a 20-hour head start before anyone notices, according to the report.
In nearly seven in 10 incidents (68.1%), funds were in motion before the hack was publicly reported through press releases, social media or alert systems. And in nearly one in four cases (22.7%), the laundering process was fully completed before any internal or public disclosure.
As a result, only 4.2% of stolen funds were recovered in the first half of 2025.
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New regulations, new responsibilities for CEXs
The report also revealed that 15.1% of all laundered crypto in the first six months of 2025 passed through centralized exchanges (CEXs), and that compliance teams often have just 10–15 minutes to block suspicious transactions before funds are lost.
That’s especially alarming given that CEXs remain the single most targeted entry point for attackers, responsible for 54.26% of total losses in 2025, far more than…
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