Bybit, a major crypto exchange, recently lost $1.4 billion worth of ETH and related tokens. Hackers stole 401,347 ETH, 90,376 stETH, 15,000 cmETH, and 8,000 mETH from their cold wallet.
Now the question is, how will the hacker cash out this ETH? Dumping such a large amount directly would create massive sell pressure, which could negatively impact ETH’s price. But DEX markets don’t have enough liquidity, so selling everything at once isn’t an option.
If they try to convert it into USDT or USDC, their account might get frozen instantly. They could use a mixer like Tornado Cash, but hiding such a large amount of ETH is difficult.
The market is already weak, and news like this can spread more panic. However, big investors don’t react much to these events anymore. It’s mostly us who overreact—half understanding, half not.
Where can they even cash out such a huge amount? Crypto is supposed to be decentralized, but in reality, it’s highly centralized. Circle and Tether are sitting there, ready to freeze accounts at the slightest hint. Right now, the hacker has no safer option than holding ETH.
One alternative could be moving the ETH through a mixer and somehow converting it to WBTC. Because they know people will spread FUD about ETH, but not about BTC. Other than that, I don’t see many options for them.
Exchanges always say, “Our funds are safe, we are fully solvent” after a big hack—just like FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried did. But a few days later, we find out how “solvent” they really were.
Recently, WazirX got hacked too. Same story. But they still haven’t been able to return users’ assets.
Anyway, don’t overreact. Understand the market before making decisions. If you get a good dip, buy it. People forget these things quickly. And if there’s any ETH ETF approval news, no one will even remember this hack.
Good luck!
