Bybit Funds on the Move.. Could Bitcoin Mixers Be Their Next Destination?

North Korean hackers are laundering stolen funds from Bybit, with blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic tracking over $140 million in transactions aimed at obscuring the money trail. The laundering activities began following a significant theft on February 23, 2025, which involved $1.46 billion, marking it as the largest crypto theft in history.

The recent theft from Bybit on February 23, 2025, involved a sophisticated social engineering attack that primarily targeted Ethereum assets. Following the breach, attackers distributed the stolen funds across 50 wallets, each containing around 10,000 ETH, and have begun converting these assets to Bitcoin. This method of laundering makes it increasingly difficult for authorities to trace the funds, as they are being systematically moved through various anonymous exchanges.

Elliptic has reported that the laundering process includes layering the stolen funds to conceal the transaction trail. This tactic is designed to buy time for the hackers to cash out the assets. The firm noted that if previous laundering patterns are followed, the use of mixers may be the next step, although the sheer volume of stolen assets could present challenges in this process. To date, the Lazarus Group, linked to North Korea, has stolen over $3 billion in crypto since 2017, with proceeds reportedly funding the country’s ballistic missile program.

As a result of the theft, Bybit is experiencing significant user withdrawals, with approximately 23,000 BTC pulled from its hot wallet shortly after the attack. This has led to a decrease in Bybit’s Bitcoin balance from 70,000 BTC to just over 52,000 BTC, indicating an outflow of around $1.7 billion. Further analysis suggests that total outflows across various cryptocurrencies may amount to $6 billion.

Elliptic and other analysts have pointed to the anonymous crypto exchange eXch as a platform that processed substantial amounts of the stolen assets, despite Bybit’s requests to block such activities. eXch has denied facilitating money laundering for the hackers, claiming that any funds processed were minimal and would be donated to open-source initiatives.

The laundering of stolen Bybit funds highlights the ongoing challenges in tracking illicit activities within the cryptocurrency space. As hackers adapt their strategies to evade detection, exchanges and users alike must prioritize security measures to protect their assets.