Bybit has already paid more than $4 million to bounty hunters who helped trace and freeze some of the stolen funds.

According to Bybit's holdings, that amounts to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency that was stolen from Bybit and its customers, making this the largest ever cryptocurrency theft. However, as Molly White of Web3IsGoingGreat points out, the hacker can't exactly cash out $1.5 billion in Ethereum, because an amount that high would crash the value of ETH.

Lazarus Group, hackers based in North Korea, tricked Bybit CEO Ben Zhou into approving a transfer of 400,000 ethereum tokens from his company's cold wallet.

Following the revelation Friday from cryptocurrency exchange firm Bybit that hackers stole digital tokens worth about $1.5 billion – in what may be the biggest crypto heist of all time – CEO Ben Zhou wrote on X Sunday that it has replenished its reserves. Bybit was able to do this through a mix of emergency loans and large deposits.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday that North Korea was responsible for the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange ByBit. The agency said it refers to this specific North Korean malicious cyber activity as "TraderTraitor.

Up to $140M in bounty rewards for return of Ethereum allegedly pilfered by hermit nation Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, just days after suspected North Korean operatives stole $1.5 billion in Ethereum from it,

In the early hours of February 21, 2025, the cryptocurrency world was thrust into chaos. A staggering $1.5 billion in digital assets vanished from Bybit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange, in what is now the largest crypto heist in history.

North Korea's Lazarus Group is credited with hacking the Bybit crypto exchange on February 21, 2025, and stealing a massive $1.4 billion. According to blockchain security firm Elliptic, the stolen funds are likely being laundered through various methods to obscure the transaction trail.