Bybit Declares War on Lazarus After $1.4B Crypto Heist

Bybit, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a massive security breach on February 21, resulting in the theft of over $1.4 billion in digital assets. The hack, which targeted primarily liquid-staked Ether (STETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and other ERC-20 tokens, has prompted an aggressive response from the company’s leadership.

Bybit CEO and co-founder Ben Zhou took to social media on February 25, announcing a formal "war against Lazarus," the notorious North Korean hacking group widely believed to be responsible for the attack. Zhou stated publicly, "We have assigned a team to dedicate to maintaining and updating this website, we will not stop until Lazarus or bad actors in the industry is eliminated."

The centerpiece of Bybit’s response is a newly launched bounty program designed to recover the stolen funds. According to the official bounty website, individuals who help freeze illegally moved assets can receive rewards equal to 5% of any recovered cryptocurrency. Some successful recovery efforts may qualify for even higher rewards, with the site stating, "Successful interceptions will be rewarded with a 10% bounty." Given the enormous sum stolen, these bounties could potentially reach up to $140 million, creating a powerful financial incentive for security experts and blockchain sleuths to join the recovery efforts.

The attack was first identified by renowned blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who linked the theft to Lazarus Group. This North Korean state-sponsored hacking collective has been tied to numerous high-profile cryptocurrency thefts in recent years, with reports suggesting they stole more than $3 billion worth of crypto from exchanges between 2017 and 2023.

Despite the massive scale of the theft, Bybit moved quickly to reassure its users. On February 23, just two days after the hack, the exchange announced it had completely replaced all stolen cryptocurrency from its own reserves. "Bybit is back to 100% 1:1 on client assets," the company claimed in an official statement, suggesting that user funds are now fully backed.

The February 21 breach far exceeds previous record-setting hacks in the cryptocurrency industry. For comparison, the 2022 Ronin Bridge hack, previously considered one of the largest in crypto history, resulted in losses of approximately $600