The hacker behind the $1.4 billion Bybit exploit has laundered greater than $335 million in digital belongings, with investigators persevering with to monitor the motion of stolen funds.
Crypto investor sentiment was hit by the largest hack in crypto history on Feb. 21, when Bybit lost over $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH) and different digital belongings.
Onchain information exhibits that the hacker has moved 45,900 Ether (ETH) — price about $113 million — previously 24 hours, bringing the overall quantity laundered to greater than 135,000 ETH, valued at $335 million.
That leaves the hacker with about 363,900 ETH, price round $900 million, according to pseudonymous blockchain analyst EmberCN.
“There are nonetheless 363,900 ETH ($900 million) within the Bybit hacker tackle. On the present fee, it’s going to solely take one other 8 to 10 days to clear it up.”
Bybit exploiter. Supply: EmberCN
Blockchain safety corporations, together with Arkham Intelligence, have identified North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the probably perpetrator behind the Bybit exploit.
On Feb. 25, four days after the exploit, Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou declared “war” on the Lazarus Group.
Largest crypto heists of all time. Supply: Elliptic
In the meantime, blockchain analytics agency Elliptic has flagged 11,084 cryptocurrency wallet addresses suspected of being linked to the Bybit exploit. That record is anticipated to develop as investigations continue.
Associated: Bitcoin tumbles under $90K amid ETF sell-off, mounting liquidations
Bybit’s response may restore belief in centralized exchanges
Regardless of the size of the assault, Bybit’s response could assist rebuild belief in centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEXs), in accordance to business figures.
Dan Hughes, founding father of the decentralized finance platform Radix, mentioned Bybit’s rapid response prevented a bigger market sell-off:
“Assuming the worst is behind us, the style during which Bybit dealt with the state of affairs may very well recuperate some confidence in CEXs. It will show that with adults on the wheel, centralized exchanges may be ‘reliable’ and accountable custodians of our belongings.”
“Primarily, it issues most if Bybit can certainly soak up that loss as claimed. To this point, withdrawals have been honored, and all appears good,” Hughes added.
Associated: Bybit hackers may be behind Solana memecoin scams — ZachXBT
Bybit has continued to honor buyer withdrawals and had totally replaced the stolen $1.4 billion in Ether by Feb. 24, simply three days after the assault.
Nonetheless, the Bybit hack alone accounts for more than half of the $2.3 billion stolen in crypto-related hacks in 2024, marking a major setback for the business.
Journal: China’s ‘point running’ crypto scams, pig butchers kidnap kids: Asia Express
Cointelegraph by Zoltan Vardai Bybit hacker launders $335M as funds continue to move cointelegraph.com 2025-02-26 11:41:55
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