Bybit, one of the world’s top cryptocurrency exchanges, has fallen victim to a significant hacking attack, with a hacker stealing approximately $1.5 billion (1.1 billion pounds) worth of digital currencies. This theft is being considered the largest crypto heist in history. In response, Bybit has sought the assistance of cybersecurity experts to help recover the stolen assets.
Reassuring customers, the company has confirmed that customer funds are ‘safe’ and that any affected individuals will be reimbursed.
Bybit revealed that the hacker had gained control over a wallet containing Ethereum, a popular cryptocurrency, and transferred the funds to an unknown address.
Bybit’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Zhou, commented on the situation, stating, “Bybit remains financially stable. Even if the loss from this hack cannot be recovered, all customer assets will be returned. We will be able to absorb this damage.”
He further explained that the company holds $20 billion in assets and, even if no funds are recovered, they will either personally or through their partners take loans to compensate for the losses.
The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange is Bybit, which has over 60 million users. Following the news of the hack, there has been a significant surge in withdrawal requests from customers.
Zhou further stated that the company received over 350,000 withdrawal requests, which may cause some delays in processing. The hacker stole funds from the company’s digital Ethereum wallet. Ethereum, or Ether, is the second-largest cryptocurrency by value after Bitcoin.
Bybit reported that during a routine transfer within the Ethereum digital wallet, the hacker transferred cryptocurrency to an unknown address. Taking advantage of a weakness in the security feature, the hacker managed to move the funds.
Zhou mentioned that the other wallets on the exchange remain secure. After the hack, the price of Ethereum dropped nearly 4% last Friday, but it started to recover and returned to previous levels.
The company has called on the “brightest minds in cybersecurity and crypto analytics” for help, and they will offer a 10% reward on the recovered funds. This means that if the entire $1.5 billion is recovered, the reward would be $140 million.
After Donald Trump won a second term as President of the United States, the value of cryptocurrencies soared to record levels. Upon returning to the White House, he promised to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world.” However, this hack is a major blow to the crypto industry.
Although the identity of the attacker on Bybit remains unknown, some reports suggest that the suspected attacker could be hacker groups supported by the North Korean government, such as the Lazarus Group. This group has previously been responsible for large-scale digital heists, including the theft of $615 million from the Ronin Group’s blockchain in 2022.
LND/SH
