Bybit's Rapid Recovery: $400M in Ether Aid

Bybit, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has made significant strides in recovering its Ether (ETH) reserves following a massive hack that occurred on February 21. The exchange, which was targeted for over $1.4 billion worth of liquid-staked Ether (STETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and other ERC-20 tokens, has managed to replenish its ETH reserve to nearly 50% of pre-hack levels within just two days.

CryptoQuant data shows that Bybit held over 201,600 Ether tokens as of 8:52 a.m. UTC on February 23, representing over 45% of the 439,000 Ether it held before the hack. This rapid recovery can be attributed to both spot buying and emergency assistance from industry leaders and exchanges.

Bybit bought 106,498 Ether worth $295 million in over-the-counter (OTC) trades since the exploit occurred, according to crypto intelligence platform Lookonchain. Additionally, crypto industry leaders and exchanges rushed to assist Bybit with emergency transfers, including 50,000 Ether from Binance, 40,000 Ether from Bitget, and 10,000 Ether from Du Jun, co-founder of HTX Group, among others.

Bybit's recovering exchange reserves and continued user withdrawals are a robust sign of trust for the crypto industry. The exchange processed more than 350,000 withdrawal requests within 10 hours since the exploit, completing 99.9% of them by 1:45 am UTC on February 22.

The crypto industry has aided Bybit with nearly $400 million worth of Ether in emergency loans and transfers. Bybit received a total of 145,000 ETH worth $390 million in total loans and deposits since the hack occurred, including $127 million worth of ETH from Binance-based whales and over $53 million from a single whale wallet, wrote Lookonchain.

Despite the hack and drop in assets, Bybit's exchange reserves still exceed its liabilities, according to its independent Proof-of-Reserve (PoR) auditor, Hacken. In a February 21 post, Hacken confirmed that