Web3 Chaos Hits Hard: Millions Drained in Just Two Weeks of 2026 – Report

Extropy reports major crypto hacks in January 2026. Truebit loses $26M, Ledger data breach exposes users, and phishing attacks surge.

The first two weeks of 2026 brought a wave of security incidents across Web3 platforms.

Extropy published its Security Bytes report documenting these events. The findings portray a troubling picture of the current threat landscape.

According to the report, attackers continued their operations through the holiday season. The damage ranged from multimillion-dollar exploits to sophisticated phishing campaigns.

Truebit Protocol Loses $26 Million to Legacy Code Flaw

The year’s first major incident hit Truebit Protocol on January 8. An attacker drained roughly $26 million in what Extropy calls a “zombie code” exploit.

The vulnerability stemmed from an integer overflow in legacy smart contracts. These older contracts lacked modern Solidity’s native overflow protections. The attacker minted millions of TRU tokens at virtually no cost.

Once created, the tokens flooded back into the protocol. All available liquidity vanished within hours. The TRU token price collapsed by nearly 100% in just 24 hours.

Extropy notes that the attacker moved 8,535 ETH through Tornado Cash immediately. Security firms later linked the wallet to a previous Sparkle Protocol exploit. This suggests a repeat offender specifically targeting abandoned contracts.

The report warns that legacy contracts remain a critical vulnerability. Projects must either monitor or deprecate old code actively.

TMXTribe Watches $1.4M Drain Over 36 Hours

Between January 5 and January 7, TMXTribe suffered a slower but equally devastating attack. The GMX fork on Arbitrum lost $1.4 million over 36 continuous hours.

Extropy describes the exploit as mechanically simple. A loop minted LP tokens, swapped them for stablecoins, then unstaked repeatedly. The unverified contracts prevented public analysis of the exact flaw.

What troubled researchers most was the team’s response. According to the report, developers remained active on-chain throughout the attack. They deployed new contracts and executed upgrades during the drain.

However, they never triggered an emergency pause function. The team sent an on-chain bounty message to the attacker instead. The thief ignored it, bridged funds to Ethereum, and laundered them through Tornado Cash.

Extropy questions whether this represents negligence or something worse. The report emphasizes that unverified contracts serve as red flags for users.

In the first days of January we’ve already seen the full spectrum of Web3 failure modes: zombie contracts printing money, governance turning into civil war, unverified forks bleeding out in slow motion, supply-chain leaks putting users at physical risk, phishing that weaponizes… https://t.co/ev1flKir3D

— Extropy.io (@Extropy) January 13, 2026

Ledger Customers Face Physical Security Risks

On January 5, Ledger confirmed a data breach affecting its customer base. The breach originated from payment processor Global-e, not Ledger’s hardware.

Customer names, shipping addresses, and contact information were compromised. Extropy warns this creates what security experts call “wrench attack” scenarios. Attackers now possess a list of crypto hardware wallet owners and their locations.

The report notes a bitter irony. Ledger previously faced criticism for charging for security features. Now their payment processor has exposed users to physical danger at no cost.

Extropy advises users to expect sophisticated phishing attempts. The stolen data allows attackers to establish false trust through personalized communications.

_Related Reading: _****A Round Up of Security Incidents Surrounding Ledger Hardware Wallets

MetaMask Phishing Campaign Drains $107,000

Security researcher ZachXBT flagged a sophisticated phishing operation targeting MetaMask users. The campaign has drained over $107,000 from hundreds of wallets.

Victims received professional emails claiming a mandatory 2026 upgrade. The messages used legitimate marketing templates and featured a modified MetaMask logo. Extropy describes the “party hat” fox design as disarmingly festive.

The scam avoided asking for seed phrases. Instead, it prompted users to sign contract approvals. This permitted attackers to move unlimited tokens from victim wallets.

By keeping individual thefts under $2,000, the operation avoided major alerts. Extropy emphasizes that signatures can be as dangerous as leaked keys.