Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has provided a crucial update on the recent $1.4 billion hack, revealing that 77% of the stolen assets remain traceable, while 20% have gone dark, and 3% have been frozen. In a detailed breakdown posted on X, Zhou stated that 417,348 ETH ($1 billion) have been converted into Bitcoin across 6,954 wallets, averaging 1.71 BTC per wallet.
The next few days are expected to be critical in tracking and freezing these funds as hackers attempt to move assets through exchanges, OTC desks, and peer-to-peer platforms. Bybit has launched a dedicated tracking website and is offering bounties to those aiding the recovery effort.
THORChain and OKX Web3 Proxy Wallets Involved
A significant portion of the stolen ETH was laundered through THORChain, with 361,255 ETH ($900 million) processed via the platform. Despite the movement, these transactions remain traceable.
Additionally, 79,655 ETH ($100 million) passed through OKX Web3 proxy wallets, of which:
- 16,680 ETH remains traceable
- 23,553 ETH ($65 million) is untraceable without further cooperation from OKX Web3
Bybit, along with 11 different entities, including Mantle, Paraswap, and on-chain investigator ZachXBT, continues to push for freezing the stolen funds.
Uncooperative Exchanges Hinder Recovery Efforts
Bybit’s tracking website has identified seven cooperative exchanges assisting in freezing illicit funds. However, one platform, eXch, a no-KYC swap service, has refused to comply. eXch denies accusations of laundering funds for North Korea and has not taken action against addresses linked to the hack.
So far, bounty hunters aiding the recovery have received a total of $2.18 million in USDT as part of Bybit’s efforts to incentivize fund tracing.
Chainflip Moves to Block Hackers
Chainflip, a cross-chain DEX, is introducing a 1.7.10 protocol upgrade to prevent hackers from using its platform to launder stolen assets. The upgrade will enhance screening tools, enabling broker operators like SwapKit and Rango DEX aggregator to reject suspicious ETH and ERC-20 token deposits.
“The broad and overwhelming consensus amongst the Chainflip ecosystem is that illicit flows endanger the protocol by exposing LPs to too much risk,” the team stated.
