Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has defined how hackers are turning to Bitcoin mixers to launder the $1.5 billion in Ethereum stolen from the trade final month.
In an replace shared on X on March 20, Zhou disclosed that 193 BTC, roughly $16 million, from the stolen funds, have been funneled by Wasabi Pockets earlier than being distributed throughout numerous P2P distributors.
Along with Wasabi, Zhou disclosed that the hackers are utilizing different mixers, resembling CryptoMixer, Railgun, and Tornado Cash.
He added:
“We imagine this pattern will develop as extra funds will undergo mixers. Decoding mixer transactions is the no.1 problem we face now. In the event you may help, please attain out.”
Crypto mixers permit customers to mix their crypto transactions with others, making tracing funds on public blockchains troublesome. Whereas privacy-conscious customers usually use these companies, cybercriminals have additionally leveraged them to hide illicit exercise.
Consequently, regulators have sanctioned platforms like Tornado Cash for his or her function in laundering stolen property.
Stolen funds are nonetheless partially traceable
Regardless of the continued laundering makes an attempt, a lot of the stolen assets remain traceable.
Zhou confirmed that 88.87% of the stolen 500,000 ETH—value practically $1.5 billion—can nonetheless be tracked, 7.59% has been rendered untraceable, and three.54% has been frozen.
He additional detailed that 440,091 ETH, valued at roughly $1.23 billion, has been transformed into 12,836 BTC and distributed throughout 9,117 wallets.
Bybit has been actively investigating the breach, receiving 5,012 bounty reviews over the previous month. Nevertheless, solely 63 offered actionable intelligence. Zhou has urged extra bounty hunters to assist observe property laundered by crypto mixers.
Whereas Bybit has remained operational following the assault, the incident’s aftermath continues to weigh on the exchange.
On-chain knowledge reveals that Bybit’s market share dropped from practically 20% on Feb. 21 to round 5% by March 2. Nevertheless, the trade has since rebounded, climbing to 10% as of March 19, in keeping with Kaiko knowledge.
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