North Korean Hackers Convert $1.4B in Stolen ETH to BTC

North Korean hackers have converted a substantial amount of stolen Ethereum (ETH) into Bitcoin (BTC), according to the CEO of the recently hacked crypto exchange Bybit. Ben Zhou, the CEO, revealed that approximately $1.4 billion in ETH was stolen from Bybit, with a significant portion of the assets being converted to BTC.

The Lazarus Group, a notorious North Korean hacking collective, is believed to be behind the hack, which occurred last month and is considered one of the largest heists in history. Zhou stated that around 500,000 ETH was stolen, with 77% of the funds still traceable, 20% having gone dark, and 3% frozen.

To convert the stolen ETH into BTC, the hackers primarily used THORChain, a decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol that facilitates the exchange of assets between various chains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the BNB Chain. Zhou emphasized that the next two weeks would be critical for freezing the stolen funds at crypto exchanges.

Zhou provided further details on the conversion process: 83% (417,348 ETH, approximately $1 billion) of the stolen funds were converted into BTC using 6,954 wallets, with an average of 1.71 BTC per wallet. The hackers primarily used THORChain to clear ETH to BTC, with 72% of the funds ($0.9 billion) being traced through the platform. Additionally, 16% of the funds went dark through an exchange, and 8% ($100 million) were traced through OKX's web3 proxy, with 5% of the funds being untraceable.

Bybit has launched lazarusbounty.com to track stolen funds and offer rewards for assistance in recovery efforts. The exchange is committed to working with law enforcement and the crypto community to apprehend the hackers and recover the stolen funds.