Bybit CEO Confirms $280M Lost as Recovery Efforts Continue

• Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed $280 million of stolen funds have been laundered, while $1.07 billion remains trackable for potential recovery.
• Hackers converted $1 billion into Bitcoin, dispersing funds across nearly 7,000 wallets, complicating tracking and asset retrieval efforts.
• Investigators have frozen $42 million, while bounty hunters have earned $2.1 million for their role in tracing and securing stolen funds.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has confirmed that $280 million out of $1.4 billion worth of funds was stolen during the February hack, which now remains impossible to track. The researchers presently focus on monitoring the $1.07 billion in stolen funds to prevent hackers from accessing them.

An estimated 500,000 Ether worth of funds got stolen during the attack. The funds involved in money laundering continued at $280 million, which represents 20% of the total $1.4 billion worth of stolen assets, according to Zhou. A majority of 77% of stolen funds can be tracked while authorities have already frozen 3% of stolen assets worth $42 million.

The hacker group transformed $1 billion of stolen ETH into Bitcoin (BTC) and secretly spread them across 6,954 wallets. Tracking and asset recovery tasks become more complex due to the distribution pattern of 1.71 BTC per wallet. The stolen resources have spread over various cryptocurrency systems, which creates additional obstructions for tracking.

Investigators Race to Recover Assets

The freezing of assets by authorities remains essential because attackers typically try to withdraw funds by utilizing exchanges alongside OTC trading and P2P transactions. During the following one to two weeks, investigators expect thieves to continue making attempts at reaching stolen fund destinations.

Blockchain security experts identified over 11,000 wallets linked to the hackers. Bybit has engaged Web3 security firm ZeroShadow to conduct forensic investigations and maximize recovery efforts. Additionally, bounty hunters involved in tracing and securing funds have been awarded a total of $2.1 million.

THORChain and Other Platforms Used for Laundering

According to Zhou, the hackers primarily used decentralized exchange THORChain to cash out ETH and BTC. Other platforms, including ExCH and OKX Web3 Proxy, were also involved in facilitating the movement of stolen funds. Investigators are now coordinating with these platforms to freeze any remaining assets and limit further laundering attempts.

Security efforts have identified approximately $65 million in ETH that could still be recovered, but this process requires collaboration with the OKX Wallet team. Investigators continue to analyze transaction flows and engage relevant crypto platforms in recovery efforts.

Bybit Strengthens Security Measures

Bybit implemented enhanced security protocols after the hack to stop such occurrences from happening again. The exchange collaborates intensively with security businesses and blockchain analysis companies to build better surveillance software and reduce potential risks.

The Bybit attack confirms how tracking stolen cryptocurrency has become more difficult because hackers now use complex laundering routines. The investigation team makes asset freezes its top priority to prevent lost funds once the digital assets become unrecoverable.