Crypto Drama: CEO Reveals Shocking Truth Behind Bybit Hack!

by

Bybit’s CEO, the indomitable Ben Zhou, has divulged an alarming truth! A quarter of the stolen funds from the March Bybit hack have seemingly vanished, never to be seen again, while an impressive 84.5% has undergone a truly remarkable transformation into Bitcoin, all thanks to Thorchain. 🍿

In a rather *informative* update on April 21, Mr. Zhou detailed the most significant crypto theft in history—a staggering $1.5 billion. The heist, which some might call “remarkably efficient,” has resulted in 27.6% of the stolen assets completely disappearing after their escapades through crypto mixers, cross-chain platforms, and various illicit exchanges. Oops, it seems those funds have gone dark, possibly on a beach somewhere far, far away. 🏖️

Total hacked funds of USD 1.4bn around 500k ETH. 68.57% remain traceable, 27.59% have gone dark, 3.84% have been frozen. The untraceable funds primarily flowed into mixers then through bridges to P2P and OTC platforms.

Recently, we have…

— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) April 21, 2025

The good news? The majority, or 68.6%, is still traceable (for now). The bad news? Only 3.8% has been *graciously* frozen for security, while the rest of the stolen funds embarked on a truly international journey through Wasabi mixers (a favorite of North Korea’s Lazarus Group, might we add) and other delightful platforms like Thorchain, eXch, Stargate, and SunSwap. Eventually, they reached P2P or OTC services, where, surprise, they became harder to track. Who knew moving funds around could be so much fun? 💸💻

And as if the plot needed more twists, 432,000 Ethereum (ETH)—84.5% of the total ETH stolen—was promptly converted into Bitcoin (BTC) using THORChain and spread across a staggering 35,000 wallets. So much for *keeping it simple*, eh? The rest, a mere 1.17% of the loot, is still chilling on the Ethereum blockchain. 🧐

Of course, this entire debacle has been *linked* to Lazarus, North Korea’s famed cyber bandits. The gang infiltrated Bybit through a poor Safe{Wallet} developer’s system and, in a move that could only be described as “subtle,” made off with a bunch of funds while making it look like a perfectly legal transaction. Ah, the beauty of cybercrime—*elegant*, isn’t it? 😏

In the face of this monumental setback, Bybit didn’t just sit there and wring its hands. Oh no! They froze the remaining assets, joined forces with investigators, and even offered a 10% bounty for those who could help reclaim the lost funds. Apparently, they’ve successfully processed 99.99% of all withdrawal requests. Not bad for a company whose entire existence has been thrown into the air. 👏

But Mr. Zhou isn’t quite done yet. He has called upon the internet’s finest bounty hunters to lend a hand in recovering the funds. “We need a lot of help down the road,” he said, presumably after updating his LinkedIn to “Crypto Heist Recovery Specialist.” In the last 60 days, Bybit has received a whopping 5,443 bounty reports—only 70 of which were actually helpful. We assume the rest were… *creative* attempts. 🕵️‍♀️

In a final plot twist, the privacy-focused exchange eXch, which was allegedly involved in the laundering process, has announced it will be shutting down on May 1, 2025, following an international investigation. They also denied aiding any illegal activities—of course, who would ever do such a thing? 🙄

Read More

2025-04-21 10:02