Bybit hackers have accomplished the laundering of 499,000 ETH lifted from the trade, within the largest hack in crypto historical past.
The whole laundering course of took 10 days and straight led to the Ethereum Value dropping by 23% ($2,780 to $2,130)
THORChain, the primary channel utilized by hackers to launder the cash, racked up $5.9 billion in transaction quantity and $5.5 million in dealing with charges because of hackers’ actions.
Ben Zhou, Bybit CEO, reacted to the event by giving an in depth breakdown of the Bybit hack saga.
He acknowledged that 77% of the stolen ETH remains to be traceable, 20% has gone darkish, whereas 3% has been frozen.
The hackers used over 6,954 wallets to transform 83% of the stolen ETH to BTC.
He concluded that because the seek for the stolen funds had began, 11 bounty hunters had obtained $2.2 million.
Final week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that the hackers have been the dreaded Lazarus Group from North Korea. The Bureau launched a restoration program to assist Bybit get better the misplaced funds.
Refined Laundering Mechanism
The Bybit hackers, doubtless North Korea’s Lazarus Group, used a quick, multi-layered strategy to launder $1.5 billion in stolen Ethereum.
They started by changing liquid-staked tokens (e.g., stETH) into ETH through decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to keep away from freezes, then cut up the funds throughout 1000’s of wallets.
THORChain, a cross-chain protocol, was their major instrument. They reportedly laundered 499,000 ETH in 10 days, processing $5.9 billion in quantity.
In addition they swapped ETH for Bitcoin (BTC) and Dai (DAI) utilizing bridges like Chainflip, bypassing mixers like Twister Money because of heightened scrutiny.
The staff added layers of confusion utilizing PumpFun, a Solana memecoin platform, the place they created tokens like “QinShihuang,” inflating their worth earlier than buying and selling for clear belongings.
TRM Labs stated over $400 million had been laundered by late February, with the complete quantity reportedly washed by March 4, 2025.
Funds moved via non-KYC DEXs and nameless exchanges like eXch, with BTC doubtless prepped for fiat through OTC networks.
This speedy, high-volume technique overwhelmed trackers, shifting from slower strategies and cementing the heist as crypto’s largest. Bybit might solely get better $40 million regardless of their frantic efforts.
