The crypto assets market continues to expand across global society, a trend expected to persist into 2026. As adoption grows, however, crypto crime appears increasingly inevitable. How much value was stolen in recent years, and which countries stand out as the safest and most dangerous?

Crypto theft reached alarming levels in 2025. In the United States alone, nearly 150,000 complaints were filed. According to the FBI, more than 16,000 victims were seniors, while around 11,000 were in their thirties.

Globally, complete data for 2025 is still unavailable, but early figures suggest it may become one of the most criminal years in the history of cryptocurrency fraud, hacks, and robberies. In the first half of 2025 alone, $2.17 billion worth of digital assets was stolen. By comparison, the total for all of 2024 reached approximately $2.2 billion.

If the trend continued in the second half of the year, 2025 would likely set a new record for crypto-related theft. The current record year remains 2022, when criminals stole roughly $3.7 billion, only slightly more than in 2021.

From a long-term perspective, the most dangerous country in the crypto ecosystem is North Korea, although the largest absolute amount was stolen in China. Since 2022, hackers have stolen approximately $2.3 billion in China and nearly $1.6 billion in North Korea.

The picture changes when measured relative to GDP. In North Korea, crypto crime represents more than 10% of GDP, while in China it accounts for roughly 0.01%. A similar ratio is observed in the United States, making the overall economic impact relatively negligible.

Countries with the lowest levels of crypto crime are found primarily in Europe and the Australia–Oceania region. Australia is considered the safest country globally, with only $135,000 stolen since 2022. In Europe, Switzerland ranks as the safest, with approximately $32 million lost to crypto-related crime.

Key takeaways for 2026

Anyone holding or trading cryptocurrencies should follow basic safety principles:

1. Be skeptical and never trust strangers with your money or personal data.

2. Verify all investment opportunities independently and do your own research.

3. Watch for get-rich-quick schemes, suspicious URLs, and recovery payment requests.

4. Never share PINs or personal identifiers and never pay fees to withdraw your own funds.

Sources:

https://www.demandsage.com/cryptocurrency-theft-statistics/

https://www.crisis24.com/articles/crypto-kidnappings-the-rise-of-violent-crime-in-the-age-of-digital-wealth

https://www.security.org/digital-security/crypto/