In a shocking cryptocurrency heist, North Korean hackers have stolen a record-breaking $1.5 billion from digital asset exchange Bybit. This massive theft is the largest cryptocurrency hack to date, with the hackers making off with an amount comparable to a significant portion of North Korea’s annual gross domestic product.
According to reports, the hackers targeted Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange with over 40 million users, on Friday. By the weekend, they had already begun laundering approximately $160 million of the stolen funds through a network of accounts linked to North Korean operatives.
This single heist nearly doubled the total amount stolen by North Korean hackers last year, highlighting the growing concern of cybercrime in the cryptocurrency space. Security experts have emphasized the need for stronger international cooperation to combat North Korea’s cyber theft operations.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has assured users that the exchange remains solvent and can absorb the $1.5 billion loss. Investigators are working to recover some of the stolen assets, with a group of crypto security experts already helping to retrieve around $43 million.
