Summary
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Bybit CEO Ben Zhou reveals 86% of the $1.5B stolen crypto (originally ETH) converted to BTC.
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12,836 BTC spread across thousands of wallets, averaging 1.41 BTC each.
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Mixers like Wasabi and P2P vendors used to obscure stolen funds, with $16M traced through Wasabi.
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Decoding mixer transactions was identified as the biggest challenge in recovery efforts.
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88.8% of stolen funds remain traceable despite mixing attempts.
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3.5% of funds frozen, but 7.6% now untraceable after mixer use.
Following a massive $1.5 billion cryptocurrency heist at the Bybit exchange in February 2025, the company’s CEO, Ben Zhou, has revealed that a significant portion of the stolen Bitcoin is being laundered using cryptocurrency mixers and peer-to-peer platforms.
Zhou reported that an overwhelming majority—86%—of the pilfered funds, initially in Ether (ETH) and valued at approximately $1.23 billion, were converted into 12,836 Bitcoin (BTC).
North Korean Lazarus Group Suspected in Sophisticated Laundering Scheme
These converted digital assets have been widely dispersed across a substantial network of 9,117 distinct cryptocurrency wallets.
Analysis indicates an average holding of 1.41 BTC per wallet within this distribution.
According to Bybit’s investigations, the perpetrators, suspected to be the notorious North Korean Lazarus Group, are employing sophisticated money laundering techniques.
These methods involve routing the ill-gotten gains through Bitcoin mixing services – specifically mentioning Wasabi, CryptoMixer, and Railgun—and subsequently utilizing peer-to-peer (P2P) vendor networks.
Zhou specifically highlighted that $16 million worth of Bitcoin, representing 193 BTC, was channeled primarily through the Wasabi mixer before being disseminated to various P2P trading platforms.
In the decentralized world of cryptocurrency, P2P transactions enable direct exchanges between individuals, bypassing traditional intermediaries.
P2P vendors facilitate these direct trades via online marketplaces or less formal, community-based networks.
Wasabi, singled out by Zhou, is a Bitcoin mixing service known for employing a privacy-enhancing technique called CoinJoin.
This method obscures the trail of Bitcoin transactions, making it significantly more difficult to trace the flow of funds on the blockchain.
Majority of Stolen Funds Still Traceable Despite Laundering
“We anticipate this trend to intensify as more of the stolen cryptocurrency is processed through mixers.
Currently, deciphering mixer transactions stands as our foremost challenge,” Zhou commented in a post on social media platform X.
Despite the sophisticated laundering efforts, Bybit’s latest data indicates that a substantial 88.8% of the stolen funds remain traceable on the blockchain.
However, a concerning 7.6% has been rendered untraceable due to the mixing process, while 3.5% of the total stolen amount has been successfully frozen, presumably through collaboration with law enforcement and other exchanges.
Data from Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics firm, suggests that the Lazarus Group, identified as the primary suspect, currently controls approximately 13,400 BTC.
The majority of this Bitcoin hoard is reportedly attributed to the February heist at Bybit, underscoring the scale and impact of the security breach and the subsequent laundering operations.
Also Read: Bybit Hack Shows Delayed Response In Crypto Crime Prevention
Cybercriminals, suspected to have connections to North Korea, are nearing the completion of laundering around $1.5 billion worth of Ethereum (ETH) acquired from Bybit. The group behind the Bybit security vulnerability, TraderTraitor, has already moved 70% of the stolen cryptocurrency and is expected to complete the money laundering process within three days. The movement of the stolen cryptocurrency involves a complex network of digital wallets, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and cross-chain bridges, making it more challenging for investigators to monitor and recover the misappropriated digital assets. Circle, responsible for the USDC stablecoin, is facing criticism for their perceived delay in adding digital wallets linked to the perpetrators to their blacklist, which allowed the hackers to shift the stolen funds to…[Read More]
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