In small
- Over two-thirds of the blockchain stolen in the Bybit exploit remains identifiable, the agency’s CEO said.
- 27. 59 % of the stolen money has “gone black. ”
- The$ 1. 4 billion exploit by North Korea’s Lazarus Group was the biggest in crypto story.
Over two-thirds of the$ 1. 4 billion stolen in the largest bitcoin hack to day, the Bybit breach, remains identifiable, despite thieves using an array of combining services to cover their tracks, according to a new release from the exchange’s CEO.
In an executive summary tweeted Monday, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou broke down the stream of about 500,000 ETH stolen in February, revealing that 68. 57 % of the funds remain identifiable, 27. 59 % have “gone dark”, and 3. 84 % have been frozen with the help of markets.
The latest statement shows how North Korea’s Lazarus Group, a hacking shared the FBI has formally linked to the robbery, has tried to obscure its income path since the exploit.
The party largely used coin machines like Wasabi mixing before funneling money through CryptoMixer, Tornado Cash, Railgun, and a slew of cross-chain programs like Thorchain and Stargate, the CEO said.
Zhou said a significant portion of the stolen ETH, about 432,748 ETH, or 84. 45 %, was converted into Bitcoin using Thorchain, with 67. 25 % distributed across over 35,000 cards.
5,991 ETH, or about$ 16. 77 million, remains on the Ethereum blockchain now, scattered across 12,490 pockets with an average of 0. 48 ETH each.
On the Bitcoin area, 944 BTC, valued at$ 90. 6 million, has been funneled through Wasabi Mixer only.
Zhou even confirmed that 531 Bitcoin, equal to around 18,206 ETH or 3. 57 % of the stolen goods, has since been bridged up to Ethereum via Thorchain.
Many of the property finally landed on OTC offices and peer-to-peer fiat markets, Zhou added.
Bybit’s Lazarus Bounty system, launched shortly after the exploit, has received 5,443 information in the past 60 days, of which 70 have been validated as genuine guidelines, according to Zhou.
The exchange “welcome more reports, ” Zhou said, and that they would “need a lot of help there down the road ” from bounty hunters.
In the first professional summary released last month, Zhou raised fears that Lazarus had now funneled 193 BTC through Wasabi at the time, and noted the stolen ETH was being laundered through several layers to make treatment more challenging.
The Bybit CEO warned that mixing action had probably enhance, adding that, “the trend did grow” as more funds attempt to enter the blockchain.
Bybit has not immediately responded to request for comment.
Meanwhile, eXch, a privacy-focused crypto exchange that had previously denied laundering allegations related to the hack, announced Thursday that it will shut down operations on May 1.
The closure follows allegations that eXch facilitated laundering efforts by North Korea’s Lazarus Group; in an email to , the exchange acknowledged that it had processed “vastly a minor part” of the stolen Ethereum laundered through “multiple centralized and decentralized services. “
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