Basri Caneri 
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed that $280 million of the $1.4 billion stolen from the exchange has been completely lost and that these funds have been laundered. However, the remaining $1.07 billion is still traceable. Authorities are working to freeze and recover the stolen assets.
500,000 ETH Traced and Funds Frozen
In a March 4 statement, Zhou provided an update on the movement of 500,000 ETH stolen in February’s attack and the cybercriminals’ efforts to cover their tracks.
The total funds stolen totaled $1.4 billion, about 500,000 ETH. 77% of these funds are still traceable, 20% have disappeared, and 3% have been frozen.
Zhou’s “disappeared ” means that the hackers laundered the funds, used obfuscation services and transferred them to platforms that concealed transactions. North Korea-linked hacker groups in particular are known to use these methods frequently.
So far, 42 million dollars (3% of the stolen funds) have been frozen.
Hackers Transfer Funds in Pieces
The hackers sold the stolen 417,348 ETH (about $1 billion), converted it into Bitcoin and distributed it to 6,954 different wallets. On average, each wallet holds 1.71 BTC. This fragmentation makes it difficult to track and recover assets.
Zhou emphasized that the next one to two weeks are critical. Additional funds must be frozen during this period, otherwise hackers will be able to cash out the funds via crypto exchanges, OTC platforms and P2P transactions.
Bybit Hackers Try to Retain Stolen Funds
Hackers particularly preferred decentralized exchanges such as THORChain to use the stolen funds. In addition, platforms such as ExCH and OKX Web3 Proxy were also used to move funds.
Zhou stated that $65 million worth of ETH can be recovered, but the support of the OKX Wallet team is required.
On the other hand, 11 white hat hackers were awarded a total of $2.1 million. These rewards were distributed to security researchers who helped freeze the stolen funds.
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