Following Links to Lazarus, Bybit Hack, Crypto Exchange knowledge Shutting Down

The team announced Thursday that the eXch crypto exchange would shut down operations on May 1 as a result of connections to the$ 1.4 billion Bybit hack and an “active transatlantic operation.”

The closure of knowledge is in response to mounting claims that the company was responsible in the$ 1.4 billion Bybit hack in February, supposedly facilitating money laundering by North Korea’s Lazarus thief band.

According to an April 17 news, the trade referenced an “active intercontinental activity” that targeted its system and had the potential to bring charges against its staff for money laundering and terrorism.

Johann Roberts, the CEO of eXch, claimed that the company’s decision to shut down was motivated by a “verified whistleblower from the DOJ” who provided “enough real data.”

We don’t see any benefit in operating in a hostile environment where we could be the targets of SIGINT, according to eXch in the announcement.

SIGINT, a technique for gathering intelligence, is used here.

Up until May 1, eXch will continue to offer partners API access. A new management team will then decide the company’s future operations.

Blame the game

The FBI made a connection between the Bybit incident and North Korea’s infamous Lazarus Group in February.

In contrast to Bybit’s repeated requests to block the transactions, eXch CEO Johann Roberts responded to inquiries about allegations from Elliptic, ZachXBT, and other investigative groups blaming it for processing funds.

On-chain investigators at the time noted” an abnormal spike” in Ethereum volume through the platform right away following the theft.

EXch initially refuted those assertions. We are not laundered money for Lazarus/DPRK, the statement read.

The exchange claimed that this was caused by outdated information from its third-party AML screening company, which took roughly 12 hours to update information on the hacked addresses.

Out of a total of 401, 346 ETH stolen from Bybit, eXch later acknowledged in an emailed statement to Decrypt that it had processed “vastly a minor part” from the batch of Ethereum ( approximately 90, 000 ) laundered through “multiple centralized and decentralized services.”

eXch claimed at the time that Bybit’s “direct attacks” on eXch’s reputation had caused them to decline to work with them.

request for comment was not immediately responded to by Bybit.

Additionally, eXch claimed that Elliptic rejected them as a customer because they were a “non-KYC accountless exchange” that was “working to protect privacy” for its users.

Such a situation “reflects not only our challenges, but also broader issues within the industry, particularly the elitist practices of some companies like Elliptic,” Roberts told at the time.

Elliptic did not respond to inquiries immediately in that regard.

EXch criticized other exchanges ‘ AML practices as “nonsensical policies” in its curtain call and argued that screening mechanisms can be “easily bypassed.”

edited by Stacy Elliott.