The CEO of Bybit, Ben Zhou, confirmed that the exchange restored the reserves of Ethereum (ETH) following the recent security violation of $ 1.4 billion.
In an article of February 24 on X, Zhou announced that Bybit will soon publish a proof of reserve report updated that he now holds the assets of the client 1: 1.
He said:
“Bybit has already completely closed ETH space, the new audited POR report will be published very soon to show that Bybit is again back at 100% 1: 1 on customer assets via Merkle Tree.”
Zhou’s declaration confirmed a report by the Blockchain Lookonchain analysis company. The company said that the parbit reconstituted its reservations through over -the -counter purchases (OTC), whales and loans deposits from main cryptography platforms, including Binance, Bitget and HTX.
Lookonchain said that the Situation Situation of an establishment of 157,660 ETH worth around $ 437.8 million from investment companies such as Falconx and Wintermute via over -the -counter transactions.
In addition, he acquired an additional $ 304 million from ethics from centralized and decentralized exchanges.
Fund Recovery efforts
Although the exchange may have closed the ETH space of its platform, it has intensified its recovery efforts by launching a 10% bonus program and freezing certain stolen funds.
On February 22, the crypto trading platform launched a premium program that encouraged ethical pirates and cybersecurity experts to help the recovery process.
The exchange has promised a reward of up to 10% of the funds recovered, potentially offering up to $ 140 million if the full amount is recovered.
Zhou said:
“Bybit launched a premium program on February 22, encouraging ethical pirates and cybersecurity experts to help the recovery process. The exchange has promised a reward of up to 10% of the funds recovered, potentially offering up to $ 140 million if the total amount is recovered. »»
Meanwhile, Bybit also collaborated with various cryptography platforms to freeze and recover stolen assets.
Until now, the exchange has managed to include around $ 43 million thanks to partnerships with entities such as Tether, Thorchain, Bitget, ChangeNow, Fixed Float, Avalanche, Circle and Coinex.
Blowing added:
“Thanks to rapid action and effective coordination, the team of the methamphetamine protocol managed to recover 15,000 CMETH tokens worth around 43 million dollars”
Whitening techniques
However, despite these recovery efforts, the attackers have already started to whiten the stolen funds.
The Blockchain Elliptic Legal Medicine Society noted that money laundering methods closely resemble the techniques used by the Lazare group, a notorious cybercriminal organization.
According to the company, the pirates immediately converted tokens stolen into ETH by decentralized exchanges (DEX) to escape assets freezing. This decision has contributed to bypass the restrictions that issuers could impose on specific tokens.
Within two hours following the attack, the funds were spread over 50 portfolios, each holding around 10,000 ETH. These portfolios are now systematically emptied, with at least 10% of the stolen assets already in motion.
Elliptic continued that the attackers also started to convert ETH to Bitcoin using various trading services.
If past laundering patterns persist, attackers will probably use mixers such as tornado money to hide their activities further. However, the volume of stolen assets can complicate this process.
Meanwhile, the Zachxbt chain investigator also discovered that the attackers had tried to whiten funds using the same on the Pump.fun of Solana platform.
The Sleuth Blockchain noted that one of the portfolios operated transferred 60 sol to another address to create a token named Qinshihuang, which saw more than $ 26 million in negotiation volume.
The Solana and Pump.fun Foundation responded by blocking and removing the token, preventing attackers from enjoying more. Bybit applauded the rapid action, stressing the importance of safety measures focused on the crypto community.
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