Bybit, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has suffered a staggering $1.46 billion hack, marking the biggest crypto heist in history. Speculation is mounting that North Korean hackers were behind the attack.
According to Bloomberg on February 21, the Dubai-based crypto exchange confirmed that hackers had stolen $1.46 billion worth of digital assets.
Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit, announced on X that a hacker managed to compromise one of Bybit’s offline Ethereum wallets. Blockchain analyst ZachXBT noted that the stolen funds were siphoned from the wallet through suspicious transactions.
Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain data analysis platform, also reported that approximately $1.4 billion worth of funds were being transferred to new addresses and liquidated.
The scale of this cyberattack surpasses previous record-breaking crypto hacks, including Mt. Gox (2014, $470 million) and Poly Network (2021, $611 million).
Bybit’s Size and Impact of the Hack
Founded in 2018, Bybit processes an average daily trading volume of $36 billion, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally. At its peak, it ranked as the world’s second-largest exchange by trading volume.
Before the attack, Bybit held around $16.2 billion in assets. The stolen Ethereum alone accounted for approximately 9% of the exchange’s total assets.
Blockchain analytics firm Nansen reported that the stolen assets, consisting of Ethereum and derivatives, were initially transferred into a single wallet before being distributed across more than 40 wallets.
Additionally, Nansen stated that the derivatives were converted into Ethereum and further split into amounts of $27 million each, before being transferred into more than ten different wallets.
North Korean Hackers Behind the Attack?
Arkham Intelligence stated that ZachXBT has provided evidence linking the heist to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, a notorious cybercrime unit under Pyongyang’s intelligence agency.
Blockchain security firm Fireblocks, which is assisting in Bybit’s investigation, pointed out that this attack closely resembles previous breaches at Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX and lending protocol Radiant Capital, both of which were attributed to North Korean hackers.
North Korea-linked cybercriminals stole $234.9 million from WazirX and $50 million from Radiant Capital, reinforcing suspicions about their involvement in the Bybit breach.
For years, North Korea has been accused of hacking cryptocurrency exchanges to finance its weapons programs. The U.S., South Korea, and Japan recently issued a joint statement attributing a $660 million crypto heist last year to Pyongyang.
Additionally, South Korea’s National Police Agency revealed that North Korean hacking groups, including Lazarus and Andariel, were behind the 2019 Upbit exchange hack, which saw 342,000 Ethereum ($50 million at the time) stolen.
BY YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
