{"id":163,"date":"2025-02-24T23:20:48","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T23:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techrepublic.com\/?p=4293136"},"modified":"2025-02-24T23:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T23:20:48","slug":"1-5b-hack-of-bybit-might-be-the-largest-crypto-heist-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tecnoartesanos.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/1-5b-hack-of-bybit-might-be-the-largest-crypto-heist-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"$1.5B Hack of Bybit Might Be the Largest Crypto Heist Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.techrepublic.com\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tr_20250224-bybit-cryptocurrency-heist.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>Following the revelation Friday from cryptocurrency exchange firm Bybit that hackers stole digital tokens worth about $1.5 billion \u2013 in what may be the biggest crypto heist of all time \u2013 CEO Ben Zhou wrote on X Sunday that it has replenished its reserves. Bybit was able to do this through a mix of emergency loans and large deposits.<\/p>\n<p>Zhou told users on Friday that their funds were \u201csafe,\u201d and the firm would refund anyone affected. Less than 72 hours later, Zhou said Bybit had restored the exchange\u2019s balance and kept customer withdrawals open, although he did not account for the stolen crypto.<\/p>\n<p>The scale of the Bybit theft surpasses the previous record of a $615 million heist of Ethereum and U.S. coins from the Ronin Network in 2022.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pinbox right\">\n<h3 class=\"heading\">Must-read security coverage<\/h3>\n<\/aside>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_this_crypto_heist_happened\"><\/span>How this crypto heist happened<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The crypto was taken during a routine internal transfer from its Ethereum coin \u201ccold wallet,\u201d which is a digital wallet typically stored offline and considered more secure, according to Zhou. After Bitcoin, Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n<p>In an earlier note on X, Zhou said the hackers had used a \u201cmusked transaction,\u201d which is likely a misspelling of \u201cmasked transaction\u201d to trick the exchange into cryptographically signing a change in the code of the smart contract controlling a wallet holding its stockpile of Ethereum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease rest assured that all other cold wallets are secure,\u201d Zhou wrote. \u201cAll withdraws are NORMAL.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bybit said the hackers exploited security features and then transferred the money to an unidentified address. After the theft, the value of Ethereum fell by around 4 percent on Friday, leaving it worth $2,641.41 per coin.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Suspect_identified\"><\/span>Suspect identified<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Lazarus Group, a hacking organization under North Korea\u2019s Reconnaissance General Bureau, has been identified by blockchain security experts. Blockchain analyst ZachXBT said he had provided evidence linking the attack to Lazarus, citing patterns consistent with recent North Korean cyberattacks.<\/p>\n<p>North Korea has been accused of multiple hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges to steal digital assets, launder the funds, and use them to finance its nuclear weapons program. In January, the United States, South Korea, and Japan issued a joint statement blaming North Korea for roughly $660 million in crypto thefts in 2024 alone.<\/p>\n<p>Cryptocurrency has become a preferred method for money laundering by criminals to cleanse their illicit funds.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bybits_famous_early_investors_and_60M_users\"><\/span>Bybit\u2019s famous early investors and 60M users<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Bybit was founded in 2018 and reportedly counts President Donald Trump and former PayPal chief Peter Thiel among its early investors.<\/p>\n<p>Bybit says it has more than 60 million users worldwide and offers access to various cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the revelation Friday from cryptocurrency exchange firm Bybit that hackers stole digital tokens worth about $1.5 billion \u2013 in what may be the biggest crypto heist of all time \u2013 CEO Ben Zhou wrote on X Sunday that it has replenished its reserves. Bybit was able to do this through a mix of emergency [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>$1.5B Hack of Bybit Might Be the Largest Crypto Heist Ever - TecnoArtesanos Tech Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tecnoartesanos.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/1-5b-hack-of-bybit-might-be-the-largest-crypto-heist-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"$1.5B Hack of Bybit Might Be the Largest Crypto Heist Ever - TecnoArtesanos Tech Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Following the revelation Friday from cryptocurrency exchange firm Bybit that hackers stole digital tokens worth about $1.5 billion \u2013 in what may be the biggest crypto heist of all time \u2013 CEO Ben Zhou wrote on X Sunday that it has replenished its reserves. Bybit was able to do this through a mix of emergency [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.tecnoartesanos.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/1-5b-hack-of-bybit-might-be-the-largest-crypto-heist-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TecnoArtesanos Tech Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-24T23:20:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.techrepublic.com\/uploads\/2025\/02\/tr_20250224-bybit-cryptocurrency-heist.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sergio Morales\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sergio Morales\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.tecnoartesanos.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/1-5b-hack-of-bybit-might-be-the-largest-crypto-heist-ever\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.tecnoartesanos.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/1-5b-hack-of-bybit-might-be-the-largest-crypto-heist-ever\/\",\"name\":\"$1.5B Hack of Bybit Might Be the Largest Crypto Heist Ever - 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