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The cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has been left reeling after a $1.5 billion raid that is thought to be the biggest single digital heist ever.
The Dubai-based platform has called on the “brightest minds” in cybersecurity to assist recovery efforts, as the company aims to claw back what it can.
Despite the catastrophic loss, Bybit has insisted its users have nothing to fear. Its CEO, Ben Zhou stressed all other crypto holdings were safe and even if it does not manage to return any of the stolen currency, all of those impacted would receive a full refund.
It is believed that the hackers gained control of an Ethereum wallet before extracting the vast assets to an unknown, external address.
This happened during a routine transfer of Ethereum from an offline “cold” wallet to a “warm” wallet, which covers daily trading, but unfortunately, the threat actors exploited security controls to strike.
“Bybit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of client assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss,” insisted Zhou, who also co-founded Bybit.
Bybit is Solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of clients assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss.
— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) February 21, 2025
Full incident report to follow
The exchange is said to hold more than $20 billion in assets and 60 million users globally, with the independent strength to bounce back, as well as the ability to call on loans from partners.
Following this high-profile heist, the price of Ethereum fell 4% on Friday but has since recovered to almost the same standing.
The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume conceded the $1.5 theft directly contributed to a flood of withdrawal requests from customers.
In a statement, Zhou said his firms had received more than 350,000 such requests.
“Our withdraw system is now fully back to normal pace, you can withdraw any amount and experience no delays. Thanks for your patience and we are sorry that this has happened.”
“Bybit will come out with full incident report as well as security measurement in the next few days,” he added.
Image credit: Grok/X
