Nearly a month after the $1.4 billion hack on Bybit, the majority of the stolen funds remain traceable. Even as the hackers have stepped up their efforts by using multiple crypto mixers to obscure their tracks, according to an executive summary released by the exchange’s CEO Ben Zhou.
Blockchain investigations have confirmed that the infamous North Korean Lazarus Group is behind the cyber heist, which now stands as the largest single crypto exchange hack in history.
Breakdown of Bybit’s stolen funds
On February 21, Bybit lost over $1.4 billion worth of digital assets, including liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and other cryptocurrencies, marking the largest crypto theft recorded to date.
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Just two days after the attack, blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic reported that the stolen funds were on the move and being funneled toward Bitcoin mixers.
Despite the attackers’ attempts to cover their tracks, 88.87% of the stolen assets remain traceable, according to Bybit CEO Ben Zhou. The hackers have begun laundering the funds using a combination of crypto mixers, specifically Wasabi, CryptoMixer, Railgun, and Tornado Cash.
A breakdown of the stolen funds reveals that 86.29% equivalent to 440,091 ETH approximately $1.23 billion has already been converted into 12,836 BTC, distributed across 9,117 wallets, each holding an average of 1.41 BTC.
Investigators have also identified that 193 BTC has primarily been funneled through Wasabi Mixer before being dispersed to various peer-to-peer vendors.
Zhou acknowledged that decoding transactions through these mixers remains the most significant challenge in recovering the stolen funds.
LazarusBounty program continues to expand
To aid in fund recovery, Bybit quickly launched its LazarusBounty program, offering 10% of any recovered assets as rewards.
The total bounty pool stands at $140 million, with over $2.2 million already awarded to successful participants. Over the past month alone, 5,000 bounty reports have been submitted, with 63 confirmed as legitimate tips.
The bounty structure divides the rewards equally — where 5% is awarded to entities responsible for freezing the funds, while another 5% goes to those who first trace the stolen assets, leading to their freezing. So far, 11 bounty hunters have received payouts for their efforts.
While 3.54% of the stolen funds have been successfully frozen, approximately 7.59% of the assets are now believed to be unrecoverable, having ‘gone dark’.
Featured image via Shutterstock
