The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified North Korean cyber actors as the perpetrators behind the theft of approximately US$1.5 billion from crypto exchange Bybit, according to the South China Morning Post.
This incident, referred to by the FBI as “TraderTraitor,” marks one of the largest digital currency heists to date.
In a public announcement, the FBI detailed that the malicious actors swiftly converted the stolen assets into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, dispersing them across numerous blockchain addresses.
FBI anticipates that these funds will undergo further laundering processes before being exchanged for traditional fiat currency.
Bybit, a Dubai-based crypto exchange serving over 60 million users worldwide, reported the security breach last Friday.
The company disclosed that during a routine transfer from a cold wallet—secure offline storage—to a warm wallet used for daily transactions, an attacker manipulated the process.
This manipulation allowed the unauthorised transfer of 401,000 Ethereum (ETH), valued at approximately US$1.5 billion, to an unidentified address.
Despite the significant loss, Bybit’s CEO, Ben Zhou, reassured clients that the exchange remains solvent.
He shared that all client assets are backed on a one-to-one basis and that unaffected wallets and withdrawal services continue to operate normally.
Zhou also noted that the company’s security team, in collaboration with forensic experts, is actively investigating the incident to trace and recover the stolen funds.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik
