Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit recently suffered a massive hacker attack, with over $1.4 billion in digital assets stolen. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou immediately announced "war" against the Lazarus hacker group allegedly linked to North Korea, launching a bounty program and promising to continue tracking the flow of funds until the hacker forces are eliminated.

(Bybit has refilled the 447,000 ETH gap! The funds came from lending and OTC, CEO Ben Zhou: An audit report will be released)

Bybit Suffered $140 Million Hack, CEO Launches Bounty Program

On February 21, Bybit suffered a major hacker attack, with over $140 million in cryptocurrencies stolen, including Staked ETH (STETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and other tokens. This incident is considered one of the most serious hacker attacks in the history of the cryptocurrency industry, far exceeding the $600 million stolen from the Ronin cross-chain bridge in 2022.

(Bybit Suffered $150 Million Loss, CEO Ben Zhou Responds in Interview)

Last night, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou posted on the social platform X, calling on the industry to jointly fight Lazarus and officially launching the "Lazarus Bounty Program" website.

The program encourages users to track and freeze illegally transferred funds to receive bounties. According to the rules, any individual or organization that successfully freezes funds can receive a 5% reward, and the bounty for successfully intercepting funds can reach as high as 10%, potentially up to $140 million.

Transparent Tracking Mechanism, Connecting Exchanges and On-Chain Analysis Firms

In the announcement, Zhou emphasized that the V1 version of the bounty program is already online and has the following features:

• Anyone can connect their wallet to participate in tracking the flow of funds, and if they successfully freeze illegal funds, they can immediately receive a 5% reward.
• All exchanges and mixing protocols that assist in freezing funds will receive bounties.
• An instant "good and bad actor leaderboard" has been established, recording which institutions quickly respond and cooperate, and which ones assist Lazarus in money laundering, to avoid institutions being sanctioned for participating in illegal transactions.
• Providing real-time API wallet address updates, allowing exchanges and blockchain analysis companies (such as Chainalysis, Arkham, and Elliptic) to access the latest information.

Bybit has established a dedicated team to maintain and update this website, and plans to open the platform to other victims of Lazarus attacks.

Future Update Plan: Strengthening Cooperation between Government and Law Enforcement

Bybit also previewed that the program will continue to be optimized, and the future V2 version will add:

• Real-time updates on hacker wallet information: Including balance and fund flow status, so that "bounty hunters" can choose specific wallets to track and receive rewards.
• Regulatory tools: To assist governments and law enforcement agencies in tracking and sanctioning related illegal activities.

Zhou also encouraged the community to provide feedback and opinions, emphasizing that Bybit will continue to improve the platform until the hacker forces are completely eliminated: "Hunting season has officially begun!"

Hacker Attacks Decrease, North Korean Hackers Remain the Main Threat

According to a report by the on-chain security company PeckShield in January 2025, hacker and fraud activities caused over $3 billion in losses in 2024, with phishing attacks being the most rampant and destructive. However, from 2022 to the present, the number of hacker attacks has shown an overall downward trend.

#PeckShieldAlert 2024 has witnessed a significant resurgence in crypto-related hacking activities. The total value of loss in 2024 has exceeded $3.01B, reflecting a ~15% increase over the $2.61B stolen in 2023.
This total includes $2.15B stolen from crypto hacks and $834.5M… pic.twitter.com/l58x17TE5m

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) January 9, 2025

According to a previous report, the North Korean hacker group Lazarus has stolen over $3 billion in Bit from various attack incidents between 2017 and 2023. The recent Bybit hacking incident has become the largest attack in the history of the Bit industry, further highlighting the threat of North Korean hackers to the industry's security.

(Global hackers stole $2.2 billion in Bit assets in 2024: North Korea accounted for $1.3 billion, doubling year-on-year to become the biggest threat in the world)

Even though some companies have previously paid "ransoms" to hackers in exchange for the return of funds, Ben Zhou has chosen to actively fight back this time, not only refusing to pay the ransom, but also launching a comprehensive pursuit operation, which may also make Bybit a target of future attacks.

As the Bit industry continues to develop, the security protection and monitoring mechanisms of the exchanges will become a major focus, and the Bybit hacking incident has already had an impact on the industry.

Risk Warning

Bit investment is highly risky, and its price may fluctuate violently, and you may lose all your principal. Please carefully evaluate the risks.