89% of stolen $1.4B crypto still traceable post-hack
The post 89% of stolen $1.4B crypto still traceable post-hack appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
The lion’s share of the hacked Bybit funds is still traceable after the historic cybertheft, as blockchain investigators continue their efforts to freeze and recover these funds. The crypto industry was rocked by the largest hack in history on Feb. 21, when Bybit lost over $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH) and other digital assets. Blockchain security firms, including Arkham Intelligence, have identified North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the likely culprit behind the Bybit exploit, as the attackers have continued swapping the funds in an effort to make them untraceable. Despite the Lazarus Group’s efforts, over 88% of the stolen $1.4 billion remains traceable, according to Ben Zhou, the co-founder and CEO of Bybit exchange. The CEO wrote in a March 20 X post: “Total hacked funds of USD 1.4bn around 500k ETH. 88.87% remain traceable, 7.59% have gone dark, 3.54% have been frozen.” “86.29% (440,091 ETH, ~$1.23B) have been converted into 12,836 BTC across 9,117 wallets (Average 1.41 BTC each),” said the CEO, adding that the funds were mainly funneled through Bitcoin (BTC) mixers, including Wasbi, CryptoMixer, Railgun and Tornado Cash. Source: Ben Zhou The CEO’s update comes nearly a month after the exchange was hacked. It took the Lazarus Group 10 days to launder 100% of the stolen Bybit funds through the decentralized crosschain protocol THORChain, Cointelegraph reported on March 4. Still, blockchain security experts are hopeful that a portion of these funds can be frozen and recovered by Bybit. Related: Can Ether recover above $3K after Bybit’s massive $1.4B hack? The crypto industry needs more blockchain “bounty hunters” and white hat, or ethical hackers, to combat the growing illicit activity from North Korean actors. Decoding transaction patterns through cryptocurrency mixers remains the biggest challenge in tracing these funds, Bybit’s CEO wrote, adding: “In…
Filed under: News - @ March 20, 2025 9:17 pm