Bybit cryptocurrency exchange reports significant developments following a major hack attributed to alleged North Korean hackers.
▪︎This incident, which is part of a record $1.5 billion cryptocurrency theft, saw hackers converting at least $300 million into unrecoverable funds. CEO Ben Cho provided a detailed update on the situation through a post on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
●The CEO of Bybit details the movement of the stolen assets.
▪︎The "executive summary dated April 21, 2025, regarding the hacked funds" prepared by Cho revealed that the total amount stolen is approximately $1.4 billion, primarily consisting of about 500,000 Ethereum (ETH).
▪︎Analysis of the hacked funds indicates that 68.57% of them are still traceable, suggesting that a large portion of the stolen cryptocurrency can be tracked through the blockchain.
▪︎In contrast, 27.59% of them have disappeared, meaning they can no longer be traced and may be lost. Additionally, 3.84% of the funds were frozen, possibly due to interventions by law enforcement or regulatory bodies.
▪︎Untraceable funds flowed significantly into mixing platforms - services that obscure the source of cryptocurrency - before being transferred via bridges to peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms and over-the-counter (OTC) trading.
▪︎Among the mixing platforms identified in the process of laundering the stolen money is the Wasabi platform, linked to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. According to Cho, after processing a certain amount of Bitcoin (BTC) through Wasabi, it later entered other mixing services such as CryptoMixer, Tornado Cash, and Railgun.
▪︎It was found that the hackers used several cross-chain services and swapping services, including Thorchain, eXch, Lombard, LiFi, Stargate, and SunSwap, to facilitate the movement of assets.
▪︎It appears that the final destination for these funds is OTC or P2P fiat exchange services, which allow the conversion of cryptocurrencies to traditional currencies without the need for a centralized exchange.
●Details of the stolen cryptocurrencies.
▪︎The update also highlights the locations of the stolen assets. A large portion of Ethereum was converted, with 432,748 Ethereum - about 84.45% of the total - worth approximately $1.21 billion, converted from Ethereum to Bitcoin via Thorchain.
▪︎Of this amount, 67.25% (342,975 Ethereum, worth approximately $960.33 million) was converted to 10,003 Bitcoin, distributed across 35,772 wallets, with an average of 0.28 Bitcoin per wallet.
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