Key Insights
- Blockchain analysts Arkham Intelligence and ZachXBT confirmed the North Korean-backed hackers stole over $1.5 billion in crypto.
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Bybit’s CEO, Ben Zhou, assured all client withdrawals will continue normally despite the loss.
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Arkham offered a $32,000 bounty, claimed by ZachXBT for identifying the hackers.
SINGAPORE (MarketsXplora) – Bybit, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has suffered an unprecedented security breach resulting in the loss of over $1.5 billion in digital assets. The hack, now considered the largest single theft in crypto history, has been linked to North Korea’s notorious Lazarus Group, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence and online investigator ZachXBT.
Arkham confirmed the link in a post on X, formerly Twitter, citing evidence submitted by ZachXBT. “At 19:09 UTC today, ZachXBT submitted definitive proof that this attack on Bybit was performed by the LAZARUS GROUP,” the firm stated. The submission reportedly included an extensive forensic analysis of test transactions, wallet connections preceding the exploit, and multiple timing analyses, all of which have been shared with Bybit’s security team to aid in their investigation.
The findings have since been relayed to Bybit to aid in its ongoing investigation.
In response to the attack, Arkham Intelligence swiftly announced a bounty of 50,000 ARKM tokens, valued at approximately $32,000, for information leading to the identification of the perpetrators.
Bybit Pledges Customer Protection
Earlier on Friday, Bybit officially confirmed the massive security breach, revealing that the stolen funds were primarily held in Ethereum. As of the latest reports, the hacker still controls approximately $1.37 billion worth of ETH across 53 different wallets.
Despite the scale of the attack, Bybit’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Zhou, assured customers that all withdrawals would be processed. “For immediate sake, we are currently reaching out to our partners to give us a bridge loan,” Zhou said in a livestream, acknowledging the financial strain the hack has placed on the company.
“Currently, we are not buying Ethereum, and even if we did want to buy, it is too big of an amount to be moving around.”
Crypto Community Rallies Behind Bybit
In response to the breach, leading figures in the crypto space have voiced their support for Bybit. Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain, announced via X that his team was actively assisting in tracking the stolen funds. Crypto exchange OKX also deployed its security team to support Bybit’s investigation, according to Haider Rafique, the company’s chief marketing officer.
KuCoin, another major crypto exchange, expressed solidarity with Bybit, stating on X that it stood in “full support of Bybit, its team, and CEO Ben Zhou as they work through this challenge.” KuCoin emphasized the importance of industry-wide cooperation in combating cybercrime, adding that “crypto is a shared responsibility” and calling for increased collaboration among exchanges to bolster security.
Lazarus Group’s Expanding Footprint in Crypto Hacks
The Lazarus Group, an infamous cybercrime organization widely believed to be backed by North Korea, has been implicated in several high-profile crypto heists. The group has allegedly orchestrated multiple sophisticated attacks, often targeting major exchanges and laundering stolen assets through complex transaction trails.
Just last year, blockchain investigator ZachXBT uncovered that $35 million linked to the hack of Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin had been funneled through Huione Guarantee, a known laundering channel. The DMM Bitcoin breach, which saw the theft of over 4,500 BTC valued at more than $300 million at the time, was previously considered the largest crypto hack of 2024. Investigators linked that attack to the Lazarus Group, citing similarities in laundering techniques and forensic indicators.