Lazarus Group's $1.4 Billion Crypto Heist: A New Record
1min read The Lazarus Group, a notorious North Korean state-sponsored hacking organization, has once again made headlines with a record-breaking $1.4 billion heist on Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange. The breach, which occurred on February 21, 2025, has brought the elusive group back into the spotlight, raising questions about their identity and modus operandi.
The Bybit hack was executed with surgical precision. The Lazarus Group targeted the exchange's Ethereum (ETH) cold wallet, an offline storage solution believed to be highly secure. The hackers managed to deceive Bybit's team by disguising a malicious transaction as a legitimate one, modifying the smart contract rules to gain control of the funds. In an instant, 401,347 ETH, valued at over $1.4 billion, disappeared into a network of wallets.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT was quick to identify the Lazarus Group as the culprit behind the scheme. His thorough investigation, which included trial transactions, wallet associations, and forensic timestamps, connected the theft to the infamous hacking group. Arkham Intelligence, which offered a $50,000 reward for information on the attackers, validated ZachXBT's findings, solidifying the Lazarus Group's responsibility in the extraordinary hack.
The Lazarus Group is not your average band of hackers. Backed by North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau, they have honed their skills over nearly two decades, mixing spying, cash grabs, and global chaos. Their resume reads like a thriller, with high-profile hacks such as the 2014 Sony Pictures takedown and the 2016 Bangladesh Bank attack, where they pocketed $81 million.
In the cryptocurrency world, the Lazarus Group is an infamous heavyweight. They have raked in billions through various heists, including the Ronin network heist in March 2022, where they snagged $620 million from Axie Infinity's blockchain backbone, and the Horizon bridge raid in June 2022, where they lifted $100 million from Harmony's cross-chain bridge. The Bybit deal, securing 500,000 ETH, elevates them beyond Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin, making them the 14th largest Ether holder globally.
The Lazar 
