Emre Yumlu 
Bybit Confirms $5 Billion Drop After $1.4 Billion Hack, But Independent Audits Show Reserves Exceed Liabilities
Bybit Maintains Reserves Exceeding Liabilities Despite $1.4 Billion Hack
Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has confirmed that it still holds reserves exceeding its liabilities, despite suffering a $1.4 billion hack and a $5.3 billion drop in total assets. According to DefiLlama data, the February 21 hack became the largest crypto theft in history, with attackers stealing $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether, Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and other ERC-20 tokens.
Following the incident, Bybit’s total asset value fell by over $5.3 billion, but independent Proof-of-Reserve (PoR) auditor Hacken has confirmed that Bybit’s reserves continue to surpass its liabilities, ensuring full coverage of user funds.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated on February 22 that the exchange processed over 350,000 withdrawal requests within 10 hours, successfully completing 99.9% of them. In response to the hack, crypto industry leaders sent emergency transfers, including 50,000 Ether from Binance, 40,000 Ether from Bitget, and 10,000 Ether from Du Jun, co-founder of HTX Group.
The Bybit hack accounts for more than half of the $2.3 billion stolen in crypto-related hacks in 2024. Analysts believe the attack was carried out by the Lazarus Group, which has also been linked to the Ronin network hack.
Bybit’s Ether cold wallet was compromised through a deceptive transaction, allowing the hacker to take control and transfer all Ether to an unknown address. This incident highlights that even centralized exchanges remain vulnerable to sophisticated cyberattacks.
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