Bybit $1.5 billion stolen: Here’s how the biggest crypto heist took place

Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, last month became the victim of what is being estimated as the largest crypto heist till date as hackers stole nearly $1.5 billion in digital assets.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has held North Korea responsible for the theft, referring to the malicious cyber activity as 'TraderTraitor,' Reuters reported.

However, a question that many want to know is how the cybercriminals carried out the biggest crypto heist in history. Here we take a look at all that happened.

Bybit hack: What happened

Ben Zhou, Bybit's chief executive, had on February 21 logged into his computer for approving a transaction as the cryptocurrency exchange was to shift a major chunk of digital currency Ether from an account to the other.

However, around 30 minutes after the transaction, Zhou received a phone call from the company's chief financial officer, who informed him that their system was hacked, adding that all the "Ethereum is gone," The New York Times reported.

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Bybit hack: How it happened

According to the FBI, at the time of approving the transaction, Zhou unintentionally gave control of an account to the cybercriminals, who had support from the North Korean government.

To do this, they discovered a major flaw in the security of Bybit, which was that it had relied on a free software product.

The hackers were able to penetrate Bybit by taking control of a publicly available system, which was utilised by the company to safeguard a large amount of customer deposits.

Shockingly, the cryptocurrency exchange depended on the storage software for years. This was developed by a company, named Safe. Bybit used software even when other technology providers were selling specialised tools for this business. The hacking sent the market into a free fall.

Experts react to Bybit hack

The major heist left open Bybit's safety protocols as crypto security experts were troubled by the incident.

A security firm, while analysing the breach, argued that the losses were “completely preventable,” adding that the incident could have been avoided.

Charles Guillemet, an executive at French crypto security firm Ledger, told The New York Times that the storage tool of Safe was being widely used by several companies involved in the cypto business. However, he highlighted that it was better suited to crypto hobbyists and not for exchanges that deal with billions of dollars in customer deposits.

Guillemet stated that such a thing was "not an acceptable situation in 2025.”

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What was at stake?

Bybit looks after nearly $20 billion in customer deposits.

But it failed to have enough Ether to cover up the losses from the $1.5 billion robbery, thus forcing Zhou to borrow from other firms.

FAQs

1. What is Bybit?
Established in 2018, it works as a crypto marketplace, where traders get to convert money into Bitcoin and Ether.

2. How many customers does Bybit have?
According to Reuters, it caters to over 60 million worldwide users, offering them access to various cryptocurrencies.