Nearly $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen from Bybit on Friday.
This has been the largest crypto heist in history and possibly the biggest “single theft of any kind ever recorded,” according to Elliptic co-founder and chief scientist Tom Robinson.
Security researchers have linked the attack to North Korean hackers from the notorious Lazarus Group.
This group is no stranger to high-profile exploits. Lazarus was also responsible for pilfering $600 million from the Ronin Network in March 2022.
This record-setting incident dwarfs the combined losses of the top five hacks of 2024, which total roughly $958 million.
The Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin suffered a massive attack in May when hackers exploited vulnerabilities to steal more than 4,500 Bitcoin valued at $308 million. This blow eventually forced the platform to cease operations.
South Korea’s blockchain gaming app PlayDapp was targeted twice in February; first, when hackers hijacked its token-minting smart contract to produce 200 million tokens worth $26 million. Then an additional 1.6 billion tokens valued at $264 million were nearly minted before PlayDapp intervened.
India’s WazirX experienced a breach of its multi-signature wallet that resulted in a $235 million loss, while both Radiant Capital and the NFT project Munchables were hit with multi-million dollar attacks, each losing about $62.5 million.
To put the magnitude of the Bybit heist in perspective, consider Mt. Gox.
In February 2014, the early Bitcoin exchange suffered a catastrophic blow when 850,000 Bitcoins disappeared — an amount that was valued at about $400 million at the time but would be worth over $80 billion today.
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin has gained 0.1% in the past 24 hours and is trading at $96,400.
- Ethereum is up 3.7% over the same period to $2,810.
What we’re reading
- Michael Saylor pushes for a 20% Bitcoin supply reserve in the US as ‘economic armour’ ― DL News
- Why the SEC’s Dismissal of the Coinbase Case Is a Total Win for Crypto ― Unchained
- When will markets move again? ― Milk Road
- FTX repayments hit jurisdictional roadblocks as creditors clamour to reinvest ― DL News
Kyle Baird is DL News’ Weekend Editor. Got a tip? Email at kbaird@dlnews.com.
