Bybit Wins Court Support to Trace $1.5B North Korea Hack Funds

United States courtroom data unsealed on Thursday present {that a} federal choose backed crypto change Bybit’s effort to hint belongings stolen within the $1.5 billion North Korea-linked hack by granting the corporate expedited discovery. 

According to the data, Bybit filed the lawsuit below seal on June 18 in opposition to North Korea, its Reconnaissance Common Bureau, the Lazarus Group and 20 unidentified defendants. The courtroom granted Bybit’s request for expedited discovery on June 19.

The invention authority provides Bybit a sensible route to establish alleged intermediaries and pursue a small portion of stolen belongings that continues to be traceable, reasonably than relying solely on a judgment in opposition to North Korea. 

In its grievance, Bybit alleged that some traceable belongings reached exchanges working or sustaining infrastructure within the US. The corporate sought account-holder identities, balances and transaction histories, saying sure platforms had indicated they might cooperate after receiving a courtroom order.

Bybit says 90% of stolen funds turned untraceable

Bybit additionally obtained a brief restraining order on June 19 stopping the unidentified defendants from transferring sure traceable belongings. The courtroom renewed the order on July 16 and partially granted Bybit’s request for a preliminary injunction on July 30. Some displays and different data stay sealed.

As of the June 18 submitting, Bybit mentioned 90.2% of the stolen belongings had turn out to be untraceable after passing by way of mixers, cross-chain bridges and over-the-counter sellers. The remaining 9.8% had been traced to identifiable wallets, together with 5.3% of the entire, about $75.5 million, that had been frozen or recovered.

The figures mark a pointy drop from greater than a 12 months in the past, when Bybit CEO Ben Zhou mentioned on the time that 68.57% of the funds remained traceable. 

Associated: Bybit made ‘slow but steady comeback’ in 2025 after massive hack: CoinGecko

The hack occurred on Feb. 21, 2025, after attackers compromised Safe Wallet’s infrastructure. Forensic investigators mentioned compromised credentials belonging to a Secure developer allowed the attackers to inject malicious code into its cloud infrastructure. The FBI attributed the theft to North Korea on Feb. 26, 2025. 

The lawsuit reveals that Bybit is looking for the return of the stolen belongings, roughly $1.5 billion in compensatory damages, punitive damages and treble damages below the US Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

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