Record-breaking cryptocurrency hack drives investors to secure wallets: Report

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Investors worried about cryptocurrency hacks are driving record demand for hardware wallets to store digital assets offline.

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Investors buy hardware wallets as cryptocurrency hacks hit record high in 2025.
Ledger expects triple-digit sales amid rising theft from exchanges.
Alongside digital hacking, physical attacks and kidnappings are also targeting crypto holders.

Ledger, a company that sells USB devices for secure cryptocurrency storage, is having its best year ever, with sales reaching triple-digit millions of dollars in 2025, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Approximately $2.2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen in the first half of this year, more than was stolen in all of 2024.

The surge in thefts has led investors to turn to cold storage solutions offered by companies like Ledger, Trezor, and Tangem instead of holding tokens directly on exchanges.

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Crypto hacking targets individuals at record levels

About 23% of hacks in the first half of 2025 targeted personal wallets, according to data firm Chainalysis. The company called this an “increasingly serious” form of theft as cryptocurrency prices hit record highs.

North Korean hackers stole $1.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies from exchange Bybit in February, making it the largest heist in history. “Just as we had a record year for legal cryptocurrency activity, we also had a record year for illicit cryptocurrency activity,” said Ari Redboard, head of global policy at TRM Labs.

Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier told the Financial Times that hacking attacks were becoming more common. “We are getting more and more hacked every day…bank accounts and cryptocurrencies are being hacked and things are not going to get better next year or the year after,” he said.

Ledger raised funding from investors including 10T Holdings and Singapore’s True Global Ventures, and was valued at $1.5 billion in 2023.

Along with digital theft, physical attacks are also on the rise.

The rise in virtual currency prices has led to an increase in criminal activity around virtual currency holders. Kidnapping is becoming more common as criminals attempt to physically seize traders’ funds.

Ledger’s own co-founder and his wife were kidnapped in France earlier this year. Chainalysis warned that rising crypto prices could lead to “further opportunistic physical attacks against known crypto holders.”

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