Bybit Hack Update: $140M in Stolen Funds Tracked, But Can It Be Stopped?
Debashree Patra24 Feb 20252 min read
The crypto world is in shock after Bybit lost $1.46 billion in a massive hack on February 21 – the biggest crypto theft in history. This attack, which targeted Bybit’s Ether multisig cold wallet, has been linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking organization.
Blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic has tracked over $140 million of the stolen funds being laundered through decentralized exchanges and anonymous crypto services. The attackers are converting the stolen assets into Bitcoin, making it harder for authorities to trace and recover the money.
Will the stolen billions ever be recovered?
Stolen Ethereum Scattered Across 50 Wallets
Right after the attack, the hackers spread the stolen Ethereum across 50 wallets, each containing about 10,000 ETH. Since then, the funds have been moved around, swapped for Ethereum-based assets, and converted into Bitcoin – a common strategy to avoid detection.
Elliptic warns that the hackers may use Bitcoin mixers next, a technique that makes tracking stolen crypto even more difficult. However, laundering such a massive sum won’t be easy, as law enforcement and blockchain experts are closely watching.
Bybit Users Rush to Withdraw Funds
The breach has caused panic among Bybit users, leading to a surge in withdrawals. Arkham Intelligence data shows that around 23,000 BTC ($1.7 billion) has been withdrawn from Bybit’s hot wallets, reducing its Bitcoin reserves from 70,000 BTC to just over 52,000 BTC.
In total, Bybit has seen over $6 billion in crypto outflows since the attack, raising concerns about the platform’s liquidity and stability.
Despite the panic, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou reassured users that the exchange remains solvent and that no customer funds were lost. More than 350,000 withdrawal requests were processed in the aftermath of the attack, demonstrating the platform’s ability to handle large outflows.
Exchange in Trouble?
Meanwhile, blockchain analysts Elliptic and ZachXBT have accused the crypto exchange eXch of processing “tens of millions of dollars” in stolen funds. Bybit had asked eXch to block these transactions, but the exchange refused, denying any wrongdoing.
eXch dismissed the allegations as biased against privacy-focused platforms and claimed that some of the processed funds would be donated to open-source privacy projects.
Can the Stolen Funds Be Recovered?
With law enforcement and blockchain security teams tracking the stolen funds, the hackers face serious obstacles in cashing out. However, the Lazarus Group has a history of successfully laundering billions in crypto, raising fears that they might once again evade detection.
Investigations are ongoing, but it remains uncertain whether any of the stolen funds will be recovered.
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