In what is being described as the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, hackers have made off with $1.5 billion worth of digital assets from Bybit, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges. The Dubai-based platform reported that an attacker gained access to an Ethereum wallet and transferred its entire balance to an unknown address.
While Bybit confirmed that no other wallets were impacted and that withdrawals are proceeding as normal, the scale of the breach is staggering. CEO Ben Zhou assured customers on X (formerly Twitter) that the company remains solvent, stating, “All client assets are 1-to-1 backed, and we can cover the loss” even if the stolen funds are not recovered.
The hack occurred while Bybit was transferring Ethereum from its offline “cold” wallet to its “warm” wallet for daily trading operations. Despite multiple security checks and signatures required for the transfer, attackers successfully masked the destination of the funds, making them vanish into the ether. Forensic teams are now working to trace the assets, though the identity of the attackers remains unclear.
This breach highlights growing concerns over the security of the cryptocurrency industry. While cryptocurrency exchanges like Bybit implement sophisticated firewalls, hackers increasingly target human vulnerabilities, such as phishing and social engineering attacks, to bypass security measures.
According to Chainalysis, 303 hacking incidents were recorded in 2024 alone, resulting in $2.2 billion in stolen assets across the industry. While Bybit insists that all client funds are safe and operations remain unaffected, the lack of regulation in the crypto space, compared to traditional financial institutions, raises concerns among many users. The theft has led to an influx of more than 350,000 withdrawal requests from customers, though Bybit has assured that all requests are being processed.
The scale of this breach surpasses the previous record of $620 million stolen in the 2022 Ronin Network hack. Bybit has reported the incident to the relevant authorities and is working with forensic experts to investigate how the security breach occurred and whether the stolen funds can be recovered.
Sources:
- Bybit CEO Ben Zhou’s post on X (formerly Twitter)
- Chainalysis 2024 report
