22-2-2025 – Leading blockchain detective ZachXBT has linked North Korea’s notorious Lazarus Group to what is being called the largest cryptocurrency exchange breach in history – a staggering $1.46 billion theft from Bybit’s digital vaults.
The breakthrough in the investigation came after cryptocurrency analytics firm Arkham Intelligence corroborated ZachXBT’s findings on Wednesday. The firm had previously launched a bounty campaign offering approximately $31,500 worth of ARKM tokens for information leading to the perpetrators’ identification.
The sophisticated cyber-heist primarily targeted staked Ethereum and other digital tokens built on the Ethereum blockchain, known as ERC-20 tokens. Blockchain security outfit Blockaid confirmed this attack has surpassed all previous cryptocurrency exchange breaches in terms of value stolen.
Industry heavyweight Justin Sun, who founded the TRON blockchain network, announced via social media platform X that his team is working alongside Bybit to trace and potentially recover the purloined assets. Similarly, rival exchange OKX deployed its security specialists to assist with the ongoing investigation, according to their chief marketing officer Haider Rafique.
“This incident underscores the necessity for unified action within our industry,” said a KuCoin spokesperson, emphasising the exchange’s solidarity with Bybit. “Cryptocurrency security must be approached as a collective responsibility.”
Seeking to quell market anxiety, Coinbase executive Conor Grogan emphasised Bybit’s strong financial position, noting the exchange maintains over $20 billion in assets and continues to process withdrawals normally. “Their cold storage remains secure, and this appears to be an isolated incident rather than a systemic failure,” Grogan assured.
The attack has prompted renewed focus on cybersecurity across the cryptocurrency sector. Industry experts are advocating for enhanced security measures, including multi-signature wallets, hardware-based security solutions, and comprehensive transaction verification processes.
The breach comes amid a broader trend of declining cryptocurrency-related crimes. Industry data shows total losses from crypto-related incidents dropped 17% in 2024 compared to the previous year, though hacking remains the predominant threat, accounting for 98.1% of all losses.
Despite this latest setback, market observers note the cryptocurrency sector’s improving resilience to cyber threats, with successful attacks declining by 27.5% year-on-year. However, the Bybit incident serves as a stark reminder of the persistent sophisticated threats facing digital asset platforms, particularly from state-sponsored actors.
