Ethereum’s Daring Dance: From Hack to Highs and Hiccups! 💃💰

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Ah, the ever-resilient Ethereum! Over the weekend, it performed a rather impressive pirouette, bouncing back from a rather unfortunate tumble following the grand heist at the Bybit crypto exchange. One might say it’s the Houdini of the crypto world! 🎩✨

On February 21, our dear ETH took a nosedive of 7% in mere hours, plummeting from a lofty $2,832 to a rather pedestrian $2,629, all thanks to a $1.4 billion hack. Quite the dramatic turn of events, wouldn’t you agree? 😱

But fear not! By February 23, ETH was back in the swing of things, tapping $2,800 in late trading, only to lose a bit of its sparkle shortly thereafter. It’s like watching a soap opera—full of ups and downs! 📺💔

Bybit’s Daring Recovery

On February 24, Lookonchain reported that Bybit had managed to gather around 446,870 ETH, worth a staggering $1.23 billion, through loans, whale deposits, and a sprinkle of good fortune since the hack. Talk about a financial makeover! 💄💸

Ben Zhou, the dashing co-founder and CEO of Bybit, declared that they had “already fully closed the ETH gap.” How charming! He also teased a new audited proof-of-reserves report coming “very soon.” One can hardly wait! ⏳

Latest Update: Bybit has already fully closed the ETH gap, new audited POR report will be published very soon to show that Bybit is again Back to 100% 1:1 on client assets through merkle tree, Stay tuned.

— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) February 24, 2025

Meanwhile, Custodia Bank’s CEO, the ever-astute Caitlin Long, congratulated Zhou and expressed her hopes for a riveting case study on navigating financial stress. Because who doesn’t love a good financial thriller? 📚💼

“The way Bitfinex handled its financial distress post-hack was creative and ultimately proved more efficient than the cost of traditional restructurings,” she quipped. Touché! 🎭

As for the hackers, believed to be the North Korea-affiliated Lazarus Group, they’ve been busy laundering their ill-gotten gains through a service called eXch. Quite the entrepreneurial spirit, wouldn’t you say? 🕵️‍♂️💰

On February 23, Zhou expressed his hopes that the exchange “could reconsider and help us to block funds outflowing from them.” A noble endeavor, indeed! 🌍

“We are also getting help from Interpol and international regulatory bodies. Helping block these funds is not just helping Bybit,” he added. A true team player! 🤝

Over the weekend, Bybit reported some success in freezing assets with the help of various organizations, including Tether, Circle, Avalanche, and THORChain. However, it’s still a mere drop in the ocean compared to the total losses. But hey, every little bit helps! 🌊💦

A coordinated effort led to the freezing of $42.89M in just one day. Thanks to the following teams for their swift action: @Tether_to: Flagged address and froze 181K USDT @THORChain: Blocked the blacklist @ChangeNOW_io: Froze 34 ETH @FixedFloat: Froze 120K USDC + USDT…

— Bybit (@Bybit_Official) February 23, 2025

ETH Price Outlook

Despite its initial recovery, ETH didn’t linger long above $2,800, retreating to $2,740 during the Monday morning Asian session, where it found a bit of support. A classic case of “what goes up must come down!” 🎢

ETH has been rather choppy this past week, hitting resistance just above $2,800 thrice while finding support just above $2,600 twice. It’s like a game of financial hopscotch! 🏆

Since its dramatic fall below $3,000 in early February, ETH has shown little inclination to return to that lofty height, despite the month being historically bullish. Oh, the irony! 🎭

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2025-02-24 10:15