Bybit CEO Claims More Than $390M From $1.4B Lazarus Vulnerability breach Is Now Untrackable

Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit, disclosed that almost 28% of the $1.4 billion that was siphoned off in the February 2025 breach associated with North Korea’s Lazarus Group has become untraceable.

In a summary posted on X on Monday, April 21, 2025, Zhou elaborated on how the hackers managed to conceal over $390 million in cryptocurrencies through an intricate web of mixers, cross-chain bridges, and over-the-counter (OTC) platforms.

Zhou indicated that out of the total 500,000 Ethereum stolen, about 68.57% can still be traced. Meanwhile, 27.95% has “disappeared” and only 3.84% has been put on hold.

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Lazarus Group Laundered Money via Mixers Such as Wasabi, Tornado Cash, and Railgun

The laundered assets were initially funneled through privacy-focused mixers like Wasabi. Subsequently, they were transferred using other mixers such as Tornado Cash, Railgun, and CryptoMixer.

Afterward, the attackers utilized cross-chain bridges and platforms including Thorchain, eXch, LiFi, Stargate, Lombard, and SunSwap to exchange the funds into more liquid forms.

The vulnerability breach, which gave full access to a particular ETH cold wallet, resulted in the complete draining of 500,000 ETH to an unidentified address. Forensic examinations showed that 432,748 ETH—approximately 84.45% of the stolen funds—were swapped from Ether to BTC through Thorchain.

Of this amount, 342,975 ETH (around $960 million) was converted into 10,003 BTC and dispersed across over 35,700 wallets, each containing an average of 0.28 Bitcoin.

Zhou mentioned that a smaller fraction—1.17% of the pilfered assets or 5,991 ETH—remains on the Ethereum network, distributed among 12,490 wallets.

4.21.25 Executive Summary on Hacked Funds:
Total hacked funds of USD 1.4bn around 500k Ethereum. 68.57% remain traceable, 27.59% have gone dark, 3.84% have been frozen. The untraceable funds primarily flowed into mixers then through bridges to P2P and OTC platforms.
Recently, we have…

— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) April 21, 2025

In reaction to the breach, Bybit initiated the Lazarus Bounty program, designed to motivate the crypto asset community to assist in locating the misappropriated assets.

Zhou revealed that the initiative has to date generated 5,443 reports, including 70 validated leads. “We require additional bounty hunters capable of decoding mixer activities. That’s where much of the difficulty resides,” Zhou elaborated.

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eXch To Cease Operations Amid Claims Connected to Bybit Exploit

Last week, the cryptocurrency exchange eXch announced its decision to officially terminate operations on May 1, 2025. This action followed allegations that the platform was involved in laundering funds related to the significant Bybit breach.

The exchange highlighted escalating pressure from regulatory bodies and a collective decision among its leadership team to exit the trading market.

The situation revolves around accusations that North Korea’s Lazarus Group funneled around $35 million through eXch. These funds were part of the estimated $1.4 billion embezzled in a large-scale attack on Bybit earlier this year.

eXch stated it had become the target of an “ongoing transatlantic operation” aimed at dismantling its framework and potentially initiating legal actions against its operators.

The repercussions from the Bybit vulnerability breach, which ranks among the most significant in the crypto realm, have been profound. There were over $5 billion in user withdrawals in the aftermath of the breach.

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The post Bybit CEO Asserts More Than $390M Of Stolen $1.4B In Lazarus Exploit Is Now Untraceable appeared first on 99Bitcoins.