Bybit Nears Recovery After Crypto Heist: Freezes $42.89 Million In Stolen Funds, Secures $1.23 Billion In ETH Through Whales And Loans

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Bybit said on Sunday it froze $42.89 million of the hacked funds thanks to the efforts of multiple parties as the cryptocurrency exchange shores up its reserves after the shocking $1.4 billion exploit.

What Happened: Bybit announced via X that it was successful in restricting hackers’ ability to move the funds, a day after hackers stole over $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum ETH/USD and related tokens.

This was made possible due to the coordinated efforts of multiple teams including stablecoin issuers like Tether USDT/USD, Circle USDC/USD, the Avalanche ecosystem AVAX/USD, and cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, among others.

Furthermore, the exchange thanked Lily Liu, President of the Solana SOL/USD Foundation, and meme coin launchpad Pump.fun for their “swift action” in blocking a Solana-based token whose creator might be affiliated with the group behind the Bybit exploit.

See Also: Bitcoin ‘Early In Bull Market,’ Can Compete With Gold ETFs, Blockstream CEO Says

Meanwhile, the exchange has “nearly closed the gap” after receiving 446,870 ETH, worth $1.23 billion, through loans, whale deposits, and ETH purchases, according to Lookonchain.

Why It Matters: The cryptocurrency market came in for a big jolt Friday after North Korea's infamous Lazarus Group allegedly hacked over a billion dollars worth of ETH from popular exchange Bybit, marking the biggest cryptocurrency heist ever recorded.

Following the hack, Bybit launched a recovery bounty program, offering up to 10% of the recovered funds as a reward to cybersecurity experts who assist in retrieving the stolen assets. 

Bybit continues processing withdrawals, securing liquidity through a bridge loan covering 80% of the stolen Ethereum to ensure customers' funds remain safe.

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