Image: © Proxima Studio/Stock.adobe.com
The digital asset platform has revealed that hackers gained access to and stole from an Ethereum coin digital wallet.
Dubai-based cryptocurrency company Bybit has been the victim of potentially the worst digital heist on record as $1.5bn was taken from a wallet holding Ethereum. The popular digital asset, second only to Bitcoin, had its security features exploited by hackers, who then transferred the coin to an unknown address.
Bybit is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and has more than 60m global users. News of the hack has resulted in a massive surge in withdrawal requests, despite the organisation telling its customers that its cryptocurrency holdings are safe and refunds would be made available to those affected.
“Bybit is determined to rise above the setback and fundamentally transform our security infrastructure, improve liquidity and be a steadfast partner to our friends in the crypto community,” said CEO and founder Ben Zhou. “Bybit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of the clients assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss.”
The cryptocurrency platform also put out a call to industry experts, asking for assistance in recovering the funds, reportedly offering a reward totalling 10pc of the stolen amount to be returned, which stands at a potential $140m should it be retrieved in its entirety.
As of yet, it has not been confirmed which group is responsible for the hack, however, it has been reported by British blockchain analytics firm Elliptic that North Korean threat actors Lazarus Group have begun the process of laundering stolen Bybit funds to obscure the money trail.
The stolen funds are being moved through anonymous exchanges and converted to Bitcoin to make them harder to trace, the firm wrote in a blogpost on 23 February.
“Lazarus Group has developed a powerful and sophisticated capability to not only breach target organisations and steal cryptoassets, but also to launder these proceeds through thousands of blockchain transactions.”
In 2023, Microsoft claimed that Lazarus was spreading malware through supply chain attacks, impacting devices in several countries.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
