Crypto losses from hacks and exploits topped $768 million in September, the heaviest month for theft this year, according to figures compiled from the incidents themselves. Two breaches did almost all of the damage: an attack on the exchange Bitget that cost $388 million, and an exploit of the Liquid Network that drained $320 million.
The Bitget number is the larger single hit, but the Liquid story has a twist — more than $270 million of the stolen funds were returned after the fact, which cuts the net damage in half. Even so, September's gross total is the worst of 2026.
Why Bitget's $388M loss stands out
Bitget's breach is the biggest single exchange loss this year. No public timeline has been given for when the exchange expects to make users whole, and the facts around how the attackers got in haven't been disclosed.
Exchange breaches tend to hit users in two ways: directly, if customer funds were taken, and indirectly, if withdrawals freeze while the venue sorts out its hot-wallet situation. So far there's no word on either front.
The Liquid Network exploit, and the money that came back
The Liquid Network exploit netted $320 million — until it didn't. More than $270 million was returned, a rare outcome in a space where recoveries are usually measured in single-digit percentages, if they happen at all.
Who sent the funds back, and why, isn't clear from the public facts. The return does change the math on September: gross losses of $768 million, but a net figure closer to $498 million once the Liquid recovery is counted.
That distinction matters because gross-loss headlines and net-loss headlines tell different stories about how bad the month actually was for the people holding the bags.
A brutal month, and a reminder of where the risk sits
2026 has had its share of bad months, but September is the worst so far. The pattern here is familiar: exchange infrastructure remains the soft target, while bridge and network-layer exploits can produce bigger single hits but sometimes come with recoveries.
Bitget hasn't said what its next step is. The Liquid recovery is the one piece of September's damage that softened the blow, and it's worth watching whether the remaining funds move at all in the coming weeks.
