Bybit CEO Says Hacker Use BTC Mixers to Move $1.4B Stolen Funds

Following the security breach on crypto exchange giant Bybit, which is considered the largest crypto heist to date with approximately $1.4 billion stolen, the platform’s CEO Ben Zhou shared on X that the hackers responsible for the heist have started using BTC mixers to move the stolen funds. Bitcoin mixers, sometimes referred to as tumblers, are tools that mix bitcoin transactions to enhance transaction privacy.  

Bybit Hacker Uses Several Mixers

The Bybit executive listed several mixers used by the hacker, including Wasbi, Railgun, and TornadoCash. Additionally, Zhou noted that out of the roughly 500,000 ETH ($1.4 billion) stolen, 88.87% can still be tracked. The remaining 7.59% has become untraceable and 3.54% has been frozen.

He further explained that about 86.29% of the funds, equivalent to $1.23 billion, have been swapped for 12,836 BTC. These funds are now distributed across 9,117 wallets, with an average of 1.41 BTC per wallet. Of this, 193 BTC went to Wasabi Mixer mainly and later moved to various P2P vendors.

More Bounty Hunters Needed

For transparency and accountability, Zhou stated that in the past 30 days, the company had received roughly 5,012 bounty reports. However, only 63 of these reports were valid and useful. The platform’s CEO said the company is open to more reports as it needs additional bounty hunters that can decode mixers.

“We believe this trend will grow as more funds will go through mixers. Decoding mixer transactions is the no.1 challenge we face now. If you can help, please reach out,” Zhou said. 

The incident has raised concerns about the security of crypto exchanges and the methods hackers employ to launder stolen assets. Mixers and other unclear techniques complicate the recovery process and highlight the need for enhanced security measures within the crypto industry. 

In response to the attack, Bybit assured customers that the exchange remains solvent and that all client assets are safe. The company is collaborating with blockchain experts to trace the stolen funds and has initiated a recovery bounty program, offering up to 10% of the recovered amount to individuals aiding in the retrieval of the assets. Despite the major hack, the crypto exchange has received over $1.2 billion from the billion-dollar beach.