In the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, hackers steal $1.5 billion from the exchange Bybit. Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has suffered the greatest crypto robbery in history. Hackers stole around $1.5 billion in digital assets, considerably exceeding previous thefts in the sector, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. The hack targeted Bybit's cold wallet, which is an offline storage solution built for security.
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| Hackers Steal $1.5 Billion from Bybit |
Hackers Steal $1.5 Billion from Exchange Bybit
Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has been hacked for $1.5 billion in digital assets, in what is believed to be the greatest crypto heist in history.
The hack targeted Bybit's cold wallet, which is an offline storage solution built for security. The stolen funds, mostly in ether, were swiftly transferred to multiple wallets and liquidated on different marketplaces.
Blockchain analysis firms, including Elliptic and Arkham Intelligence, tracked the stolen cryptocurrency as it was transferred to numerous accounts and quickly offloaded. According to Elliptic, the hack considerably outranks past thefts in the sector. This includes the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021 and the $570 million worth of Binance's BNB token stolen in 2022.
Elliptic analysts later traced the attack to North Korea's Lazarus Group, a state-sponsored hacking collective known for siphoning billions of dollars from the bitcoin industry. The gang is known for exploiting security flaws to pay North Korea's regime, frequently employing sophisticated laundering techniques to conceal the flow of revenue.
"We've labeled the thief's addresses in our software, to help prevent these funds from being cashed-out through any other exchanges," said Elliptic's chief scientist, Tom Robinson, via email.
The breach sparked an immediate surge in Bybit withdrawals as consumers feared insolvency. Zhou reported that outflows had steadied. To reassure clients, he said that Bybit had acquired a bridge loan from unknown partners to cover any unrecoverable losses while continuing operations.
The Lazarus Group has a history of attacking cryptocurrency platforms dating back to 2017, when it entered four South Korean exchanges and stole $200 million worth of bitcoin. While law enforcement and cryptocurrency tracking companies seek to locate stolen money, industry analysts warn that large-scale thefts remain a significant risk.