Bybit hacker converts laundered $1.2 Billion ETH into BTC

Bybit CEO, Ben Zhou has provided a comprehensive update regarding the recent $1.4bn attack on the exchange. In a post on his verified X page, the CEO revealed that $1.2 billion worth of Ethereum has been converted into Bitcoin.

The CEO added that with 500k worth of ETH ($1,584.14) hacked, 68.57% remains traceable, 27.59% have gone dark and 3.84% have been frozen. As revealed, the hackers flowed the untraceable funds into mixers and then through bridges to P2P and OTC platforms.

Ben Zhou also emphasized that the bad actors used Wasabi mixer to launder the Bybit funds. He added that after a significant amount of BTC ($87,071.00) was washed through Wasabi, a small portion of it entered CryptoMixer, Tornado Cash, and Raligun.

After using the mixer, multiple cross-chain and swap services were carried out through platforms like Thorchain, eXch, Lombard, LiFi, Stargate, and SunSwap. The funds were successfully routed through Over-the-Counter (OTC) or Peer-to-Peer (P2P) fiat currency exchange services.

As of press time, 432,748 ETH (84.45%, ~1.21 B) has been transferred from Ethereum to BTC via Thorchain. Also, the hackers converted 67.25% (342,975 ETH, ~ $960.33 M) into 10,003 BTC across 35,772 wallets. As revealed, each wallet holds at least 0.28 BTC each. In addition, 1.17% (5,991 ETH, ~ $16.77M) remains on the Ethereum blockchain across 12,490 wallets, with an average of 0.48 ETH in each wallet.