Cryptocurrency exchange platform, Bybit has financially recovered from its $1.46 billion loss from a cyberattack. According to blockchain data from Lookonchain, the company covered the loss through loans, whale deposits, and Ethereum (ETH) purchases.
After Lookonchain’s report, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the exchange has “fully closed the ETH gap,” and that a new audited proof-of-reserves report will be published very soon to show that Bybit is again back to 100 per cent 1:1 on client assets through Merkle tree.
Lookonchain explained on Monday that Bybit received 157,660 ETH ($437.8 million) from one address presumed to be through an over-the-counter buying. Another address, possibly through the same medium, sent 22,609 ETH ($61.9 million).
Another transaction worth 109,033 ETH ($304.1 million) came from an undisclosed individual who bought ETH from centralized and decentralized exchanges.
Cryptocurrency worth over $127 million in ETH as loans were provided by whales and institutions MEXC contributing 12,653 stETH ($33.9 million) and crypto exchange Bitget providing 40,000 ETH ($106 million).
Also rising to Bybit’s loss situation is an unknown entity that transferred 20,000 ETH ($53.7 million). Mirana Ventures sent 10,000 ETH ($28 million), and another address, possibly linked to Fenbushi Capital, sent the same amount.
Smaller contributions came from users associated with “@yuchao” (2,499 ETH) and DWF Labs (2,200 ETH).
On its race towards recovery after suffering one of the biggest hacks in crypto history, Bybit reportedly purchased $742 million of Ethereum (ETH). This resulted in a push for the ETH price to recover 6 per cent from the previous week’s drop.
Recall that following the confirmation of the Bybit hack, the price of Ether (ETH) dropped by over 4 per cent as it sent shockwaves through the crypto market.
A recount of Bybit’s hack
On Friday, Bybit was hacked resulting in the loss of $1.4 billion worth of cryptocurrency. The sophisticated attack involving the theft of Ethereum (ETH) from one of the company’s offline wallets was reported to be one of the largest crypto hacks in history.
Bybit’s CEO and co-founder, Ben Zhou, said hackers stole around 401,346 ETH, which at the time of the theft amounts to about $1.4 billion.
The total amount of ETH stolen, which was first reported by crypto security firm Elliptic and crypto security researcher ZachXBT, was worth around $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether, Mantle Stacked ETH (mETH), and other ERC-20 tokens, making it the largest known theft of crypto in history.
Explaining the hack, Zhou wrote on X that the hacker “took control” of one of the company’s cold wallets, a digital wallet that stores cryptocurrency but in theory isn’t connected to the internet, and transferred funds to a “warm” wallet, which is online.
However, he also wrote that the company is “solvent” and “can cover the loss” even if it can’t recover the stolen funds. He reassured customers: “Please rest assured that all other cold wallets are secure. All withdrawals are NORMAL. I will keep you guys posted as more develops. If any team can help us to track the stolen funds will be appreciated.”
In another report, anonymous blockchain investigator ZachXBT found direct on-chain links between the Bybit hack and the recent Phemex breach.
On-chain data shows that the attackers merged funds from both incidents using the same initial theft addresses, similar to those used by the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group to connect multiple exchange hacks.
Recall that out of the $2.2 billion stolen from various cryptocurrency platforms in 2024 by hackers, a report by Chainalysis claimed that $1.3 billion of the unlawful funds were stolen by North Korean hackers. This represents 61 per cent which is more than half of the total illicit funds.
Read More: North Korean hackers stole over $659 million worth of crypto in 2024, pose IT workers as spies.
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