DeFi Loses More Than $600 Million to Hacks in Three Weeks as TVL Hits 1-Year Low

A string of security breaches is weighing on the decentralized finance, or DeFi, market, dragging down both total value locked and investor sentiment.

The Block reported on April 20 that cumulative losses across the DeFi market have exceeded $600 million in recent weeks. A roughly $292 million hack of the KelpDAO bridge on Saturday was a key factor accelerating the downturn.

Total DeFi TVL has fallen to about $82.4 billion, the lowest level in a year. That is about 25% below roughly $110 billion at the start of 2026. In the day after the KelpDAO hack, TVL dropped another 5.6%, a swing that approached the 98th percentile of declines since 2024.

By sector, lending was hit hardest, with TVL falling about 13%. Liquid staking declined about 3.4%, while decentralized exchanges and derivatives protocols each posted drops of about 2% to 3%.

The KelpDAO breach followed a roughly $285 million hack earlier in April at Drift Protocol, a Solana derivatives exchange. Including smaller incidents at Resolve Labs, Hyperbridge and Rea Finance, cumulative losses over the past three weeks have surpassed $600 million.

Security firm Halborn said DeFi hacking losses totaled about $86 million in January, $23.5 million in February and more than $27 million in March. The Drift hack is the largest recorded loss so far among Solana-based projects.

Across the industry, repeated breaches are seen as weakening confidence in the broader DeFi ecosystem. That could lead to further fund outflows and heightened volatility in the near term.