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In a recent catastrophic security breach, hackers stole $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum (ETH) and stETH from the cold wallet of Bybit, a significant cryptocurrency exchange. The incident, which happened on Friday, has been called the biggest cryptocurrency theft ever.
Coinbase executive Conor Grogan commented on the significance of the incident, stating, “The NK (North Korea) hack of Bybit is the largest heist of all time, of any medium (Central Bank of Iraq heist was ~$1 billion). It’s ~10x in dollar terms of the 2016 DAO hack (That was a much higher % of supply though, 15% versus <0.5%). Expect we see some calls for an Ethereum fork here.”
Over 350,000 withdrawal requests were made by Bybit users in a panic after the breach as they scrambled to protect their money. Ben Zhou, the CEO of Bybit, reassured users that their assets are secure and completely backed up despite the chaos.
“Bybit is solvent. Even if this hack loss is not recovered, all client assets are 1 to 1 backed, and we can cover the loss,” Zhou stated on X.
Hours later, Zhou confirmed that all withdrawals had been processed without major delays. He announced that Bybit’s withdrawal system was fully operational again and emphasized the company’s commitment to transparency.
“12 hours from the worst hack in history. ALL withdrawals have been processed. Our withdrawal system is now fully back to normal pace, you can withdraw any amount and experience no delays. Thanks for your patience and we are sorry that this has happened. Bybit will come out with a full incident report as well as security measurements in the next few days. I will also personally keep you all posted on any new updates. Thanks to all the clients, friends, and partners who have helped and supported us during this excruciating 12 hours. The real work has just now started.”
Bybit has promised to release a full report soon, detailing the security measures it plans to implement to prevent future breaches.