Bybit Hit by Crypto’s Worst Hack With Almost $1.5 Billion Stolen

Crypto exchange Bybit said it was hacked, resulting in what analysts estimate was the loss of almost $1.5 billion worth of tokens in the biggest theft ever committed in the industry. Researchers believe North Korean hackers were likely responsible.

A hacker took control of one of Bybit’s offline Ethereum wallets, the exchange’s Chief Executive Officer Ben Zhou announced in a post on X on Friday. An estimated $1.46 billion in assets flowed out of the wallet in a series of suspicious transactions, according to posts by on-chain analyst ZachXBT on Telegram. Research firm Arkham Intelligence confirmed around $1.4 billion in outflows from the exchange, posting on X that “the funds have begun to move to new addresses where they are being sold.”