Bybit Takes on North Korean Hackers: Crypto Asset Protection Strategy
Date: 2025-02-27 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: BUSINESS
To track the stolen funds and bring the attackers to justice, the company has launched a special platform with a reward system.
Bybit, which ranks second in trading volume after Binance, recorded a turnover of $4.2 billion in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. Russian users make up a significant part of the exchange's traffic - in January 2025, their share reached 29%.
The largest hack in the history of the cryptocurrency market occurred on February 21, when $1.4 billion in Ethereum and other assets were withdrawn from the platform. Analysts linked the attack to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus. Despite this, Bybit managed to fully recover the stolen funds by February 24, using both its own reserves and borrowed funds.
On February 26, the company introduced LazarusBounty, a platform created to search for stolen assets and inform about cybercriminals. In an official statement, Bybit emphasized that the goal of the service is to strengthen the security of the blockchain industry and bring hackers to justice.
“Transparency is our main weapon against digital crime. We do everything to ensure that attackers do not go unpunished. Any attempt to steal cryptocurrency will not go unpunished,” said Bybit CEO.
The LazarusBounty platform is integrated with the analytical services Chainalysis and Arkham. When a hacker attack is detected, independent blockchain researchers such as ZachXBT and Yu Xian from SlowMist are activated to conduct prompt investigations.
On social media, X Zhou, the head of Bybit, called on users to join the fight against Lazarus. Participants in the initiative can connect their wallets and help track down the stolen assets.
The LazarusBounty reward system provides for the payment of 10% of the returned funds - $ 140 million. These funds are distributed as follows: 5% goes to the organization that blocked the assets, and another 5% - to users who helped in the search.
The platform also keeps track of participants by their contribution to the fight against hackers. Among the companies supporting Bybit are Bitget, Tether and Circle. eXch, which refused to cooperate in the investigation, was added to the "blacklist".
