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Ruholamin Haqshanas
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Ruholamin Haqshanas
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Bybit has demonstrated financial resilience despite suffering a massive $1.4 billion hack and witnessing a $5.3 billion drop in total assets, according to data from DefiLlama.
The Feb. 21 attack, now the largest crypto theft in history, involved the theft of liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and various ERC-20 tokens.
Bybit’s Reserves Remain Greater Than its Liabilities
Despite the significant loss, Bybit’s independent Proof-of-Reserve (PoR) auditor, Hacken, confirmed the exchange’s reserves remain greater than its liabilities.
“Today’s hack was massive—a tough hit for the industry. But Bybit’s reserves still exceed its liabilities. User funds remain fully backed,” Hacken stated on Feb. 21 via X.
Bybit responded swiftly, processing over 350,000 withdrawal requests within 10 hours of the breach, completing 99.9% of them by 1:45 am UTC on Feb. 22, according to CEO Ben Zhou.
“Though we faced one of the worst hacks in financial history, all Bybit functions remain operational. Our team worked tirelessly to assist clients,” Zhou wrote on X.
Crypto exchanges rallied to support Bybit through emergency fund transfers, with Binance contributing 50,000 ETH, Bitget providing 40,000 ETH, and Du Jun, co-founder of HTX Group, sending 10,000 ETH.
Despite the support, the Bybit hack alone accounts for over half of the $2.3 billion lost in crypto-related hacks in 2024.
Blockchain investigators, including Arkham Intelligence and ZachXBT, have linked the attack to the North Korea-affiliated Lazarus Group, the same entity behind the $600 million Ronin network breach.
Meir Dolev, CTO of Cyvers, explained that Bybit’s Ethereum multisig cold wallet was compromised through a deceptive transaction that tricked wallet signers into approving a malicious smart contract change.
“This allowed the hacker to seize control and transfer ETH to an unknown address,” Dolev noted.
The wallet service provider, Safe, was also affected, though Bybit’s internal systems remained secure.
Zhou reassured users that the breach did not compromise the exchange’s core infrastructure.
Centralized Exchanges Remain Vulnerable Despite Strong Security Measures
The incident underscores the persistent threat of sophisticated cyberattacks on centralized exchanges, regardless of robust security measures.
Over the past year, North Korean hackers have been responsible for several high-profile crypto thefts, including the $305 million DMM Bitcoin hack, $50 million hacks at both Upbit and Radiant Capital, and a $16 million heist from Rain Management.
International efforts to curb such cybercrimes continue, with the United States, Japan, and South Korea jointly sanctioning 15 North Koreans for funding their nation’s nuclear program through crypto-related thefts.
As reported, the crypto industry witnessed losses totaling $1.49 billion in 2024 due to hacks and fraud, marking a 17% decrease from 2023.
According to a report by blockchain security platform Immunefi, hacks were overwhelmingly the primary cause, accounting for $1.47 billion or 98.1% of the total losses across 192 incidents.
