Bybit Exchange hit by largest digital heist in history worth $1.5 billion

Major cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has been hacked and $1.5 billion worth of digital assets stolen in what is believed to be the largest cryptocurrency heist in history. The attack compromised Bybit’s cold wallet, an offline storage system designed for security. The stolen funds, primarily in ether, were quickly transferred across multiple wallets and filtered through different exchanges.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou posted on the X platform: “Please rest assured that all other cold wallets are safe. All withdrawals are normal.” Blockchain analysis firms including BitCoin and Arkham Intelligence tracked the stolen cryptocurrency as it was moved to different accounts and quickly dumped. According to BitCoin, the breach far exceeds previous thefts in the sector. This includes the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021 and the $570 million drained from Binance in 2022.