AEREDIUM Targets Single-Key Risk as Crypto Hacks Jump 67%

The sector saw a sharp rise in security breaches in August 2026, with 50 major hacks reported—a 67% increase from July. Despite the higher attack count, total stolen value fell to $136.3 million, down 49.5% from the previous month.

Hack Landscape in August

The largest single exploit targeted decentralized lending protocol Tectonicfi, resulting in an estimated $74 million loss, more than half of the month’s total. The Cronos network intervened, pausing its chain and trapping most of the stolen assets; only about $6 million was bridged out before the pause.

Other notable losses came from smaller attacks on protocols such as Termlabs ($8.5 million), Moonwell ($8.7 million), Coinsbuy ($7.9 million) and TAC ($7.5 million). Peckshield’s analysis suggests a shift toward targeting mid‑tier DeFi components rather than headline‑grabbing mega‑exploits.

Single‑Key Vulnerabilities Remain a Core Issue

Industry experts note that many DeFi breaches trace back to a single point of failure: privileged private keys stored on vulnerable endpoints. Compromise of such keys can give attackers full control over smart contracts that hold minting, upgrade or execution powers.

AEREDIUM’s Response – AERSeal

AEREDIUM introduced AERSeal, a product built on threshold key infrastructure designed to eliminate reliance on a single private key. The solution replaces the private key with a threshold signing scheme, distributing key shares across hardware‑attested enclaves. Signatures are generated via the CGGMP24 protocol without ever reconstructing a full private key.

AERSeal currently supports Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and EVM‑compatible chains. The onboarding process includes KYC verification, contract registration, cryptographic key verification, transfer of privileged powers, on‑chain verification, and activation of an approval policy.

Moving Toward Enclave‑Based Governance

By using address derivation and signed challenges, customers can verify key possession offline, reducing reliance on the provider’s assertions. The hardware‑attested enclave model ensures that compromised workstations can at most provide a single signatory seat, while API tokens can propose actions but cannot approve them.

Security leaders argue that shifting from single‑key management to threshold‑based, enclave‑enforced governance is essential for reducing smart‑contract exploits.