Hackers steal more than £1BILLION in cryptocurrency in ‘worst hack in history’
Cruel hackers have stolen over £1billion in cryptocurrency in what has been described as the “worst hack in history”.
Dubai-based Bybit exchange revealed that a hacker took control of an Ethereum wallet and transferred its assets to an anonymous address.
The company, which has over 60 million users globally, said no other wallets were affected.
The security breach occurred when the firm was carrying out a routine transfer of Ethereum, which is the largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, from a “cold” wallet to a “warm” wallet.
Forensic investigators are trying to trace the location of the holdings totalling $1.5billion (£1.19billion) and recover them if possible.
They are also investigating why the breach was able to take place.
The company said: “We have reported the case to the appropriate authorities.”
“All client funds are safe, and our operations continue as usual without any disruption.”
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In a post on X, Chief Executive Officer Ben Zhou said: “Bybit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of clients assets are 1-to-1 backed, we can cover the loss.”
The CEO said the group held $20billion in customer assets and would cover any unrecovered funds itself or through partner loans.
Zhou added that Bybit had received over 350,000 withdrawal requests following the attack, saying “all withdraws have been processed.”
He said the company would rise above the setback and “fundamentally transform our security infrastructure, improve liquidity, and be a steadfast partner to our friends in the crypto community”.
The price of Ethereum dropped by almost 4 per cent following the revelation on Friday but has since almost returned to previous levels.
This hack is a setback for the crypto industry as a whole, which has made a comeback since US President Donald Trump took office and pledged to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”.
Although the identity of the attacker is not known, reports have suggested the hackers could be from North Korea, such as the Lazarus Group, who were previously blamed for thefts like the 2022 Ronin Group hack where attackers stole $615million in cryptocurrency.