Hackers, believed to be North Korean, have stolen nearly £1.2billion worth of cryptocurrencies in what is being described as the biggest every theft of digital money.
Dubai-based platform Bybit said that an attacker managed to take control of a ‘cold’, or offline, Ethereum wallet controlled by the company and transferred the massive set of assets to an as-yet-unidentified address.
The firm, which says it has more than 60million users across the world, said no other wallets were affected and that withdrawals appeared to be proceeding normally.
The company’s CEO Ben Zhou said in a post on X: ‘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 attack is believed to have been carried out by the Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking collective that has been run by Kim Jong Un‘s country since 2010.
The theft is believed to be the largest of its kind, with the previous record coming in at £490million worth of cryptocurrency stolen from the Ronin Network in 2022.
It is not known how the hack happened. Cold wallets are considered safer than online ‘hot’ wallets, and Bybit’s cold Ethereum wallet required several people to sign off on transfers, according to the Financial Times.
While the company is investigating the hack with the help of its security team and forensic experts, masses of people are pulling their assets from the platform.
Dubai-based platform Bybit said that an attacker managed to take control of a ‘cold’, or offline, Ethereum wallet controlled by the company (File image)
Zhou added in a later post: ‘Since the hack, Bybit has experienced the most number of withdraws that we have ever seen, We have had a total number of more than 350k withdraws requests, so far, around 2100 withdraw requests left to be processed.
‘Overall 99. 994% withdraws have been completed. If your withdraws are completed, please leave a comments here.
‘Although we have been hit by the worst hack possibly in the history of any medians (banks, crypto, finance), all Bybit functions and product remain functional, the Whole team had been awake all night to process and answer client questions and concerns. ALL hands on DECK. rest assured, we are here with you.’
Bybit said its security team, along with forensic experts, was investigating the incident, adding: ‘We have reported the case to the appropriate authorities.’
The firm said: ‘All client funds are safe, and our operations continue as usual without any disruption.’