Hackers have stolen US$1.5 billion (A$2.36 billion) from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, in the world’s largest cryptocurrency heist to date.
These hackers compromised an Ethereum wallet while its contents were being transferred from Bybit’s offline storage system to its daily trading, the company said.
“Bybit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of clients assets are 1-to-1 backed, we can cover the loss,” said Bybit CEO Ben Zhou. The company saw 350,000 withdrawal requests in the first 10 hours after the hack.
Zhou also said Bybit was seeking assistance from Interpol in blocking the flow of these stolen funds through other cryptocurrency exchanges.
Bybit has offered 10% of any funds recovered to those who “play an active role in retrieving the stolen cryptocurrencies”.
Blockchain intelligence companies Elliptic and Arkham Intelligence said they traced the hack to Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-backed hacking collective. According to Elliptic chief scientist Tom Robinson, this is the largest ever cryptocurrency heist.
“It's also potentially the largest single theft of any kind, ever,” Robinson said.
North Korea-affiliated hackers stole US$1.34 billion in cryptocurrency across 47 heists in 2024.
Around US$2.2 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen in total in 2024, up 21% from 2023. Last year was the fourth consecutive year where more than $1 billion of cryptocurrency was taken, according to a report by Chainalysis.
Bybit passed 40 million users in August, with the company saying it had become the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
The price of Ethereum fell from US$2,831.89 to $2,629.04 after the hack, but has since stabilised. At time of writing, its price was $2,807.45.
