Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Dubai, revealed on Friday that hackers had taken $1.5 billion worth of digital assets, making it the biggest cryptocurrency theft in the history of the sector.
In an online chat, Bybit founder and CEO Ben Zhou addressed the incident and reassured consumers that “your funds are safe.”
“We’ve launched a refund program for users affected by today’s hack,” the business said on X. Bybit is dedicated to safeguarding our community, and we will compensate all affected users in full.
The business claims that during a transaction, hackers took advantage of security procedures to move the assets to an undisclosed address.
This compromised an offline “wallet” that stored Ethereum, and the hackers stole 400,000 ETH on Friday morning.
On Friday following the attack, Ethereum’s value dropped by almost four percent to $2,641.41, making it the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value after Bitcoin.
Zhou said that Bybit has $20 billion in customer assets and promised to use the company’s treasury or a bridge loan from partners to reimburse any money that could not be retrieved.
Although the culprits are still at large, the theft’s scope greatly surpasses the previous record, which was set in 2022 when North Korea’s Lazarus group allegedly stole $620 million worth of Ethereum and USD coin from the Ronin Network.
According to Pitchbook, Bybit was founded in 2018 and has notable Donald Trump supporter Peter Thiel as one of its original investors.
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