Dragonfly Partner Haseeb Says DeFi Has Not Seen a Predicted “Hacker Doomsday”

A Dragonfly partner, Haseeb, said decentralized finance (DeFi) has not experienced the “hacker doomsday” some observers feared, even as newer AI models are being used by attackers. According to ChainCatcher, Haseeb made the comments on X in response to OpenZeppelin co-founder Manuel Aráoz’s earlier pessimistic view on DeFi security, citing the rollout and real-world attacker use of models including GLM 5.2, Fable, and GPT 5.6. Haseeb pointed to chart-based estimates suggesting that, based on year-to-date data and the current run rate, DeFi thefts in 2026 would annualize to about $1.89 billion. The same data showed year-to-date stolen funds of about $986 million, which he said is below 2025 levels and remains within the historical range. He argued that while the number of hacks has increased, the average size of each attack has fallen faster. Haseeb added that attackers are increasingly targeting smaller protocols and abandoned projects, while larger protocols have implemented more security hardening, leaving overall fund safety not materially worse.