Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced that the exchange has fully recovered its Ethereum (ETH) reserves following a massive $1.5 billion exploit on February 21. He confirmed that a new audited Proof of Reserves (POR) report will soon be released to prove that client assets are once again backed 1:1.
In the above X post, Zhou assured users that the exchange had restored its reserves using various sources, including loans from other exchanges, large deposits from private investors, and additional ETH purchases.
Details of the Bybit Hack
The incident, now considered the largest crypto exploit in history, is still under investigation. Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence revealed that onchain analyst ZachXBT provided strong evidence linking the attack to the Lazarus Group, a North Korean-affiliated hacking organization.
In response, Bybit has launched a recovery bounty program, offering up to 10% ($140 million) of the stolen funds to individuals who assist in retrieving the assets.
Tether’s president, Paolo Ardoino, also responded to the attack by freezing $181,000 worth of USDT tied to the stolen funds. While the amount is relatively small compared to the total loss, Ardoino stated that the company remains vigilant and continues to monitor suspicious activity.