Crypto Industry United: $43M Stolen Funds Frozen in Days

The crypto industry has swiftly responded to the recent $1.5 billion hack on Bybit, with exchanges and platforms working together to freeze nearly $43 million in stolen funds within just two days of the attack. A coordinated effort among centralized and decentralized platforms has led to the blacklisting of hacker-linked addresses, blocking stolen assets across multiple chains.

Bybit has confirmed that $42.85 million in stolen funds has been frozen across various platforms. The exchange acknowledged the swift response from other platforms, thanking them for their timely action in monitoring and blocking blacklisted addresses. Tether, for instance, flagged an address and froze 181,000 USDT, while THORChain blocked the blacklist. ChangeNOW froze 34 ETH, and FixedFloat blocked 120,000 USDC and USDT stablecoins. Several other exchanges, including Coinex, Avalanche, Bitget, and others, also took direct action to restrict access to stolen assets.

As law enforcement agencies and crypto firms work to recover funds, Bybit is taking proactive steps to secure its platform. The exchange, in partnership with Solana Foundation President Lily Liu and Pump.fun, removed a Solana-based token linked to hacker groups. Onchain data suggests that the North Korean Lazarus Group is moving funds to Solana and using fake KYC credentials to access exchanges. Bybit has also warned users about scammers impersonating exchange officials to steal sensitive data, reminding users that the exchange will never ask for their information, deposits, or passwords.

Meanwhile, Ethereum developers are debating a potential blockchain rollback to reverse the attack's damage, though such a move remains controversial. The crypto industry continues to collaborate and innovate in response to the evolving threat landscape, demonstrating its commitment to protecting users and their assets.