On February 21st, 2025, a massive cyber theft occurred when approximately $1.46 billion in cryptoassets were stolen from Bybit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange. Initial investigations suggest that malware was used to deceive the exchange into authorizing fraudulent transactions. This incident marks the largest crypto heist ever recorded, surpassing the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021. Elliptic, a blockchain analytics firm, has attributed the theft to North Korea, a country known for its sophisticated cyber capabilities and previous thefts amounting to over $6 billion since 2017. The stolen funds are being laundered through decentralized exchanges and cross-chain bridges, with eXch emerging as a major facilitator. Despite efforts by Bybit and investigators to trace and seize the assets, challenges remain due to the complexity and scale of the laundering operation. — news from Elliptic
