Bybit suffers major hack with over $1.46 billion in Ethereum stolen

[BitBakerr1]

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit experienced what may be the largest security breach in the history of digital currencies, with a reported $1.46 billion in Ethereum (ETH) being withdrawn from its hot wallets. The CEO of Bybit, Ben Zhou, confirmed the hack via social media, stating that a hacker had taken control of a specific ETH cold wallet and transferred all its contents to an unidentified address.

The breach was first suspected when on-chain data revealed a massive transfer of 401,346 ETH, valued at approximately $1.13 billion, from Bybit’s hot wallet to an unknown wallet. This transfer not only raised alarms about a potential hack but also affected Ethereum’s market price, with the cryptocurrency dropping over 4% as the stolen funds began to be liquidated.

Zhou assured users that despite the breach, all other cold wallets remained secure and that withdrawals were operating normally. According to details provided by Zhou, the hack was executed by deceiving the wallet signers with a fake user interface that displayed the correct address, leading them to unknowingly approve a change to the smart contract logic. This gave the attacker full control over the wallet, enabling the theft of all ETH contained within it.

The method used in the Bybit hack closely resembles the techniques employed in previous significant breaches, such as the WazirX and Radiant Capital hacks of 2024. Security experts have compared the Bybit incident to these past events, highlighting the similarities in the attackers’ approach.

The immediate aftermath of the hack saw nearly $200 million worth of Lido Staked Ether (stETH) sold within the first half-hour, further impacting Ethereum’s market value. As the investigation into the hack continues, further updates are expected to be made available. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities present in the realm of cryptocurrency exchanges and the importance of robust security measures.

Source.
https://ng.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bybit-suffers-major-hack-with-over-146-billion-in-ethereum-stolen-93CH-1775418

[BitBakerr1]

Bybit has confirmed that all customer funds are secured and even if the lost funds aren't retrieved, Bybit will remain solvent.

[Joy- maker]

I believe this news will open the eyes of those who still leave there assets in a centralized exchange, I believe that I have seen a thread where it was clearly stated that personal custody is the key.
Yet people are still ignorance of taking control over their crypto investments, why not get a wallet and store your assets under your own custody, after reading this bad news from bybit.

[Cryptomultiplier]

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit experienced what may be the largest security breach in the history of digital currencies, with a reported $1.46 billion in Ethereum (ETH) being withdrawn from its hot wallets. The CEO of Bybit, Ben Zhou, confirmed the hack via social media, stating that a hacker had taken control of a specific ETH cold wallet and transferred all its contents to an unidentified address.

The breach was first suspected when on-chain data revealed a massive transfer of 401,346 ETH, valued at approximately $1.13 billion, from Bybit’s hot wallet to an unknown wallet. This transfer not only raised alarms about a potential hack but also affected Ethereum’s market price, with the cryptocurrency dropping over 4% as the stolen funds began to be liquidated.

Zhou assured users that despite the breach, all other cold wallets remained secure and that withdrawals were operating normally. According to details provided by Zhou, the hack was executed by deceiving the wallet signers with a fake user interface that displayed the correct address, leading them to unknowingly approve a change to the smart contract logic. This gave the attacker full control over the wallet, enabling the theft of all ETH contained within it.

The method used in the Bybit hack closely resembles the techniques employed in previous significant breaches, such as the WazirX and Radiant Capital hacks of 2024. Security experts have compared the Bybit incident to these past events, highlighting the similarities in the attackers’ approach.

The immediate aftermath of the hack saw nearly $200 million worth of Lido Staked Ether (stETH) sold within the first half-hour, further impacting Ethereum’s market value. As the investigation into the hack continues, further updates are expected to be made available. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities present in the realm of cryptocurrency exchanges and the importance of robust security measures.

Source.
https://ng.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bybit-suffers-major-hack-with-over-146-billion-in-ethereum-stolen-93CH-1775418

Am shocked to see such a news at this time when Bybit is coming under the radar for being one of the best exchanges for the Naija crypto currency market  despite its lapses and upgrades, ahead of Binance and kraken who have also come under much fire lately.

It just goes to show that no exchange is really 100% secure and hack proof despite two factor authentication or fingerprint or kyc diligent forms, because there's always the part human error would play to give access unknowingly or knowingly.
It beats my imagination how such an amount of funds could be left in a hot wallet when there are better offline cold wallets that could have been used to avoid such a scenario from taking play.

Still, we need to be more cautious and use the right tools when using our exchanges mostly when we have to okay transactions or make them or make future plans of investment.

[BIT-BENDER]

Now that is some major hacking and I feel bad for bybit because this will set them back very well. Just curious and as a Nigerian, with the huge amount of Nigerian getting involved in crypto-currency and using these agents, doesn't anyone think that since before binance has delisted the Naira leaving bybit as a top opinion, has this brought them into the spotlight for hackers as well.

[promise444c5]

The CEO has spoken already and with his claims we all believed they got tricked ( at least what we know, don'tknow how true or possibleit could be ). The only concern for fzt response was to justify they can handle it and to prevent users from panicking over their funds thus losing users but Bybit is a big exchange so they should be able to handle it wvn though a loss is a loss, Binance had faced hacks as well bur I don't think it's upto that..

doesn't anyone think that since before binance has delisted the Naira leaving bybit as a top opinion, has this brought them into the spotlight for hackers as well.

Not really that but exchange & wallets  has always being a target for hackers, they know it's a big catch., there're other exchanges hacked and ceased operations that you probably haven't heard of even recently though some might just be information, data leak and manipulation. Hotbit Is a good example..

[CryptSafe]

This shows how unsafe it is to have one's assets kept or stored with third parties exchange. You can imagine how big and sophisticated the exchange is but yet they suffered hack and lose investors funds in huge amount.

This still vindicates the slogan of " not your keys, not your coin" it is never advisable to continue to keep your assets with exchange after seeing this incidence occur again. People should take precautionary measures to always safeguard their assets by keeping them uhde their custody.

[DiMarxist]

No centralized exchange is hack free and this why don't have to keep our coins in centralized exchanges because we are not controlling the seed phrase of the wallet address. I really feel for those investors in Ethereum. If we want to sell coin we send it to the exchange and sell it off and if we want to buy, we use it to buy and send it to non custodial wallets which is more safe. Make we no dey keep huge amount in exchange.
This matter dem e don happened for many exchanges yet we still dey keep am.

[nelson4lov]

No centralized exchange is hack free and this why don't have to keep our coins in centralized exchanges because we are not controlling the seed phrase of the wallet address.

~Snipped

In reality, no system is 100% hack proof. No matter how many layers of security a system has, it is never hack proof. The best you can do is to continously add layers of security that makes it harder to get through.

Even our private wallets are not hack proof. The reason why our private wallets haven't been hacked yet is because it would take today's computers over 100 years to break the current encryption algorithms but all of that will change when quantum computers come.

[Cryptohygenic]

Such a terrifying news that will leave the Bybit exchange users with threats which is the lead of investors selling their assets with them at all cost before they would not want to be victim of getting lost of their funds.
Definitely this insecurity occurances with the facilitations of holders selling their assets will linger to the fall of the Ethereum market and Investors will disembark from it in the main time.

[jstyler]

this is a wake up call for all exchanges to up their security game, 1.46 billion is a staggering amount and this will definitely have a ripple effect on the market, gonna be interesting to see how this plays out

[MArsland]

This shows how unsafe it is to have one's assets kept or stored with third parties exchange. You can imagine how big and sophisticated the exchange is but yet they suffered hack and lose investors funds in huge amount.

This still vindicates the slogan of " not your keys, not your coin" it is never advisable to continue to keep your assets with exchange after seeing this incidence occur again. People should take precautionary measures to always safeguard their assets by keeping them uhde their custody.

The risk of traders who trust their money too much to third parties while long-term investors occupy the safest position so far. Well at least I have warned several of my closest friends not to trust their money too much in centralized exchanges. Bybit still guarantees that its users assets are safe because only the Ethereum hot wallet was attacked, while other assets, especially Bitcoin, were not.
In January Phemex, with a value of $ 70M and now in February Bybit with $ 1.4B. What about March? everyone should always be aware that nothing is safe when your money is more on the exchange.

And boom who is behind it all? Here We Go hackers are North Korea Lazarus Group.
https://x.com/arkham/status/1893033424224411885

Edited: because there is the word naira in this thread and it came into my telegram notification, so I thought this is a global thread but it turned out to be a local Nigerian thread.


Sorry to everyone if I was rude to enter. hehe fogive me 

[sokani]

The CEO has spoken already and with his claims we all believed they got tricked ( at least what we know, don'tknow how true or possibleit could be ). The only concern for fzt response was to justify they can handle it and to prevent users from panicking over their funds thus losing users but Bybit is a big exchange so they should be able to handle it wvn though a loss is a loss, Binance had faced hacks as well bur I don't think it's upto that..

Baba calm down, $1.4 billion dollars no be moi-moi. Bybit hack nah the largest crypto hack in history, and dem fit no recover. FTX was just $440M dollars, naso dem reassure their customers say their funds dey SAFU, but las las dem file for bankruptcy. So if any person get funds their, nah to hurry withdraw your money sharpenly before we begin to hear story that touches the heart.

[Stormisover]

The CEO has spoken already and with his claims we all believed they got tricked ( at least what we know, don'tknow how true or possibleit could be ). The only concern for fzt response was to justify they can handle it and to prevent users from panicking over their funds thus losing users but Bybit is a big exchange so they should be able to handle it wvn though a loss is a loss, Binance had faced hacks as well bur I don't think it's upto that..

Baba calm down, $1.4 billion dollars no be moi-moi. Bybit hack nah the largest crypto hack in history, and dem fit no recover. FTX was just $440M dollars, naso dem reassure their customers say their funds dey SAFU, but las las dem file for bankruptcy. So if any person get funds their, nah to hurry withdraw your money sharpenly before we begin to hear story that touches the heart.

You are right keeping our fingers all crossed and uptight now is the best anyone could do, it can be very painful to lose asset to scammers only the thought of it is meant to make any one take full responsibility of ensuring the safe custody of their asset from time to time, scammers every where and it can not be completely eradicated because they will always be there for their fraudulent activities, that's one of the things we are already told to be expecting and get prepared for in the crypto space.

Bybit has confirmed that all customer funds are secured and even if the lost funds aren't retrieved, Bybit will remain solvent.

It is a bad market for the exchange and it will give them a negative feedback to their customers, I hope they undergo the due deligent of restoring and meeting up with their obligations.

[Hewlet]

Bybit has confirmed that all customer funds are secured and even if the lost funds aren't retrieved, Bybit will remain solvent.

If you de fortunate enough say your funds no de affected by the hack, the best thing to do na to take out your funds before waiting and hoping that a refund would be made to all affected users. A whooping $5 billion hacked crypto from a single exchange na a very big issue when go cost bybit a big loss even if them get enough funds to cover up for the those that have fallen victim in this instance.

This na just another reason to show say e no really make sense to leave too much crypto for an exchange because anything fit happen anyway and anytime. E don happen be say e don happen and certainly, this one go shake a lot of users and na big blow on the whole crypto body. If the bybit team decides to shut down there withdrawal option in a couple of moment which is the likely thing they will naturally want to do to be on a safer end, that might just be the end or any fund that's still lying dormant in any bybit wallet. Thank goodness say none of my funds de for bybit.

[I_Anime]

This is the reason why keeping your funds / assets in CEXs account is not encouraging, because it can be an easy target for hackers , just imagine exchange like Bybit getting hack. Even DEX account is not also safe too though but is more preferable and same time safer than cex but need to be handled with caution.



Let’s see how things goes from here , they are still trying to track the funds .

[igebotz]

I noticed withdrawal on some networks (but not all networks) have been disabled on the exchange. If they are restored and the exchange keeps operating, people that are panicking now will not panic anymore. Traders will have confidence on the exchange again as long as no customers lose money.

All network withdrawals has been restored and withdrawal are being processed according now- not an easy situation with them but they have been professional and transparent with the hack thing and building confidence. Binance provided them with a lot of liquidity on different chains.

They might not get those coins back as the hackers are bridging it to Bitcoin now from one of the message he posted this morning.. I still have some coins there and I'm not panicking a bit.

[Charles-Tim]

All network withdrawals has been restored and withdrawal are being processed according now- not an easy situation with them but they have been professional and transparent with the hack thing and building confidence. Binance provided them with a lot of liquidity on different chains.

They might not get those coins back as the hackers are bridging it to Bitcoin now from one of the message he posted this morning.. I still have some coins there and I'm not panicking a bit.

I have just checked USDT which I think is the worst among them but I am not sure.



Just only Mantle network was not disabled for now for USDT. It was three that was not disabled some hours ago. Although, the CEO complained that there was too much congestion as many people wants to withdraw their coins. I saw CZ Binance founder posted on X advising Bybit to disable withdrawal.

But I still see the exchange leave at least a means to withdraw money.

I know someone that has high amount of money on the exchange and another person that has $50 on the exchange. They have both withdrawn their money and the transactions were successful.

[I_Anime]

I noticed withdrawal on some networks (but not all networks) have been disabled on the exchange. If they are restored and the exchange keeps operating, people that are panicking now will not panic anymore. Traders will have confidence on the exchange again as long as no customers lose money.

All network withdrawals has been restored and withdrawal are being processed according now- not an easy situation with them but they have been professional and transparent with the hack thing and building confidence. Binance provided them with a lot of liquidity on different chains.

They might not get those coins back as the hackers are bridging it to Bitcoin now from one of the message he posted this morning.. I still have some coins there and I'm not panicking a bit.

I think they have already getting lead on the hackers ( the transaction was trace to Lazarus group ), FBI is already on their tail ( looking for them ) .



So I came across this post on X and I will also drop a link here for more details,

https://www.fxstreet.com/amp/cryptocurrencies/news/bybits-14-billion-hack-traced-to-lazarus-group-zachxbt-202502220215

[jstyler]

glad to see bybit has been transparent about the hack, restoring withdrawals and working with authorities to catch the hackers... would love to see a thorough investigation into this incident and increased security measures implemented to prevent similar hacks in the future