- Bybit hacker laundered $1.04B in ETH via THORChain within 10 days.
- 77% of stolen funds are traceable, but $280M remains unaccounted for.
- Offchain validation could prevent 99% of crypto hacks, per Cyvers.
The Bybit hacker has laundered 100% of the stolen money after executing the largest breach in cryptocurrency history, yet a portion of the stolen assets might still be retrievable by blockchain security specialists. The Bybit hacker cleaned the embezzled money in only 10 days, however, security companies stated that certain assets might still be retrievable via blockchain tracking.
Bybit Suffers Largest Crypto Theft in History
On February 21, Bybit suffered a hack involving more than $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether, Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and various ERC-20 tokens, marking the biggest cryptocurrency theft ever recorded.
According to a March 4 post on X from blockchain security firm Lookonchain, the hacker has transferred all 500,000 stolen Ether (ETH), now worth roughly $1.04 billion, mainly via the decentralized crosschain protocol THORChain. Even though multiple blockchain analytics firms, such as Arkham Intelligence, have identified North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the key perpetrator behind the attack, they have managed to convert the stolen funds.
The announcement arrives more than two months after South Korean officials penalized 15 North Koreans for supposedly raising money for North Korea’s nuclear weapons program via cryptocurrency thefts and cybercrime.
Efforts to Track and Retrieve Stolen Funds
Nonetheless, blockchain security specialists remain optimistic that a portion of these assets can be frozen and retrieved by Bybit. According to Deddy Lavid, co-founder and CEO of blockchain security firm Cyvers, a portion of the laundered money might still be traceable even after the asset exchanges.
“Although utilizing mixers and cross-chain swaps makes recovery challenging, cybersecurity companies using on-chain intelligence, AI models, and working with exchanges and regulators still possess limited chances to track and possibly freeze assets.”
“Swift action is crucial; when funds are heavily concealed, retrieval becomes much more difficult.” “The primary way to prevent stolen funds is primarily before or during the hacking incident,” he noted.
On March 4, Bybit’s CEO Ben Zhou stated that roughly 77% of the funds could be traced, but more than $280 million of the stolen funds “has gone dark,” and 3% of the funds are currently frozen.
Strengthening Crypto Security Against Future Attacks
Bybit has maintained its commitment to honoring customer withdrawals and successfully replaced the $1.4 billion in Ether that was stolen by February 24, merely three days following the attack. Crypto security companies such as Cyvers are focusing on proactive strategies to counter potential future attacks.
A developing approach, referred to as offchain transaction validation, has the potential to stop 99% of crypto hacks and scams by proactively simulating and validating blockchain transactions outside the blockchain, stated Michael Pearl, vice president of GTM strategy at Cyvers.
