"Bybit's $1.5B Hack: Crypto's Biggest Heist; Bitcoin's Bearish Plunge; SEC Drops Coinbase Suit"

Coin WorldSaturday, Mar 1, 2025 7:41 am ET

1min read

This Week in Crypto: Bybit Hack Breaks All Records, Bitcoin Goes Bearish, SEC Drops coinbase Suit

Crypto markets were rocked this week by a record-breaking hack on the Bybit exchange, a significant downturn in Bitcoin's price, and a surprising development in the SEC's legal battle with Coinbase. Here's a rundown of the key events:

Bybit Hack Breaks All Records

In a shocking turn of events, the Bybit exchange was hacked this week, with the Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacker collective, stealing $1.5 billion in damages. This attack is the largest crypto hack in history, surpassing the $620 million hack on the Ronin Network in March 2022. Despite the massive breach, Bybit has managed to rebuild its reserves and remain operational, earning praise from the industry and crypto community.

Bitcoin Goes Bearish

Bitcoin's price took a significant hit this week, dropping by 17% and damaging major crypto stocks. Strategy, one of the world's largest Bitcoin holders, recently spent nearly $2 billion on the asset but was unable to prevent its stock price from falling. This decline in Bitcoin's price has led to concerns that Strategy may have to liquidate some of its crypto holdings, as it might be overleveraged into the asset. However, forced liquidation is still considered unlikely.

Bitcoin ETFs saw a record $2.6 billion outflow this week, and corporate Bitcoin holders like Strategy and tesla are all dropping. Liquidations are up, and the Federal Reserve is predicting economic downturns, indicating a bear market may be on the horizon.

SEC Drops Coinbase Suit

After weeks of hinting, the SEC finally dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase this week. Brian Armstrong, the crypto exchange's founder and CEO, pre-emptively announced that he and the SEC staff had reached a deal, but it took a few days for everything to finalize. The Commission has been actively pursuing the crypto industry this week, but the SEC's lawsuit against Ripple is still active, and there's no clear hint of when it will end. Additionally, these actions have attracted criticism from within the Commission, with Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw publicly lambasting the SEC's shift

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