Bybit Hack Update: Wasabi Mixer Used To Launder $16M in Stolen Bitcoin

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The Great Bitcoin Heist: A Laundry Basket Full of Trouble

Bybit Hack Update: Wasabi Mixer Used To Launder $16M in Stolen Bitcoin

Well folks, it seems those sneaky cryptocurrency bandits who pulled off the $1.5 billion Bybit heist 🤑 are now busy trying to make their ill-gotten gains disappear faster than a magic trick.

Hackers Convert Stolen Ether to Bitcoin

Apparently, these digital delinquents swapped 440,091 ETH (worth a cool $1.23 billion, no biggie) for 12,836 BTC. They then split the Bitcoin into 9,117 wallets, like some kind of digital Monopoly game gone wrong. They used those fancy cross-chain liquidity protocols (sounds legit, right?) like THORChain to make the swap.

It’s like they’re playing a high-stakes game of digital hide-and-seek, but with way more money involved.

Use of Mixers to Obscure Fund Movements

Bybit’s CEO, Ben Zhou, reckons these digital rogues (who are probably just hungry North Korean hackers 😼 from the Lazarus Group) are trying to launder their loot through various mixers. Think of these mixers like the digital equivalent of those old-fashioned washing machines for dirty money.

Zhou said, “Decoding mixer transactions is the problem which is on the top of the list,” Let’s just hope these sleuths can crack the code before the money disappears forever.

Bybit Hack Stolen Funds Moving to Peer-to-Peer Vendors

After a spin through the mixer, the Bitcoin ends up in the hands of P2P vendors. These are basically online classifieds for Bitcoin, where people buy and sell directly from each other. It’s like the wild west of cryptocurrency, with little to no oversight.

According to Bybit, 88.8% of the stolen funds are still traceable, while 7.6% have gone dark thanks to those pesky mixers. 3.5% have been frozen though, so there’s still hope!

Bounty Program to Track Stolen Assets

Bybit’s launched a bounty program to get the public involved in the hunt for the missing Bitcoin. They’re offering up a whopping $140 million in rewards for anyone who can help track down and freeze the stolen funds. That’s a lot of pizza!

In the last month, they received 5,012 bounty reports, with 63 being deemed valid. Seems like people are eager to get their hands on some of that Bitcoin bounty!

Arkham Intelligence says that the Lazarus Group currently holds 13,400 BTC, much of which is linked to the Bybit hack. The hunt is on!

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2025-03-20 16:26