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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The FBI said North Korea was responsible for approximately $1.5 billion in virtual assets stolen from Bybit on or about February 21, 2025. In its February 26, 2025 public alert, the agency called the specific activity “TraderTraitor.” Bybit separately described the attack as Lazarus Group activity; those names come from different sources, not from the FBI alert itself.
Who did the FBI say hacked Bybit?
The FBI attributed the theft to North Korea. Its February 26, 2025 alert said the country was responsible for approximately $1.5 billion in virtual assets taken from the exchange on or about February 21, 2025, and used “TraderTraitor” for the activity.
Bybit’s own February 26 statement called the incident a Lazarus Group attack. That is the company’s characterization; the FBI alert named TraderTraitor and attributed the theft to North Korea. The distinctions matter: “North Korea” is the FBI’s attribution, “TraderTraitor” is the FBI’s label for the activity, and “Lazarus Group” is the name Bybit used.
How did the Bybit theft happen?
Bybit’s preliminary forensic account said a developer’s credentials at Safe, the third-party wallet infrastructure provider, had been compromised. Bybit said this gave the attacker access to Safe{Wallet} infrastructure and enabled the attacker to deceive signers into approving a malicious transaction. Bybit also said its reviewers found no indication that Bybit’s own infrastructure had been compromised.
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- Effortlessly build your crypto portfolio via the all in one Ledger Wallet app: buy, sell, send, receive, swap, stake and more across popular blockchains. 15,000+ coins & tokens in a single dashboard. Keep a close eye on the market. Compare service providers. Track performance. Get timely alerts. Build your portfolio with confidence.
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A Japan Financial Services Agency retrospective synthesis of public information describes the sequence in more technical terms: malicious JavaScript was served through Safe infrastructure, signers were shown a manipulated transaction, and contract redirection enabled the theft. That account draws on public reporting and cited source material; it is not a technical finding published by the FBI. The available accounts therefore point to a compromise at the third-party wallet-infrastructure and transaction-approval boundary, rather than an established breach of Bybit’s own systems.
What happened to the stolen crypto?
The FBI said the assets were being converted into Bitcoin and other virtual assets, then dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains. It warned that further laundering and conversion into fiat currency were expected. The approximately $1.5 billion figure is the FBI’s estimate of the value stolen around the incident date; it is not a statement of the assets’ current value or present location.
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The FBI asked cryptocurrency exchanges, bridges, RPC node operators, blockchain analytics firms, decentralized-finance services, and other virtual-asset providers to block transactions with, or derived from, the identified addresses. That request reflects how tracing and interrupting a cross-chain flow can depend on many services—not just the exchange that was attacked.
How did Bybit respond, and what does recovery mean?
Bybit’s retrospective timeline says the exchange resumed normal withdrawal activity after the incident, ran a recovery bounty, and—with support from industry firms—closed its ETH client-asset gap within 72 hours. These are Bybit’s reported operational and reserve milestones, not findings in the FBI alert. Closing a client-asset gap describes Bybit’s reported ability to cover that shortfall; it does not mean the stolen assets themselves had all been recovered.
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In an August 7, 2026 announcement, Bybit said it had filed a civil case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and obtained a preliminary injunction intended to preserve identified assets while the case proceeded. The company reported that approximately US$48.4 million had been recovered and over approximately US$30.5 million had been frozen across more than 28 exchanges and custodians. Bybit said the proceedings remained ongoing; those figures and the legal status are the company’s dated account, not independently verified here against a court docket or order.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this incident shows about crypto custody
The incident illustrates why custody is not only a question of where crypto is held. A transaction can involve an exchange, a third-party wallet provider, the people approving a transaction, and software that presents transaction details for review. The available accounts do not establish that a particular consumer product would have prevented this attack, so the incident should not be treated as proof that a specific wallet or security device is a solution.
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| Control point | What the accounts establish |
|---|---|
| Exchange infrastructure | Bybit said its reviewers found no indication that its own infrastructure was compromised. |
| Third-party wallet infrastructure | Bybit said compromised Safe developer credentials gave the attacker access to Safe{Wallet} infrastructure. |
| Transaction approval | Bybit said signers were deceived into approving a malicious transaction; the Japan FSA synthesis describes signers seeing a manipulated transaction. |
| Tracing and disruption | The FBI asked a broad set of virtual-asset providers to block transactions involving identified addresses or funds derived from them. |
The key distinction is between the FBI’s attribution and Bybit’s technical account: the FBI identified North Korea and the TraderTraitor activity, while Bybit described how compromised third-party credentials and a deceptive signing flow enabled the theft. The later recovery and litigation figures are Bybit-reported snapshots, not a final accounting of the case.
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