The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced that North Korean cyber actors will be Approximately USD 1.5 billion theft According to Crypto Exchange Bibit South China Morning Post.
Called “Tradertraitor” by the FBI, the incident marks one of the biggest digital currency robbers to date.
In its public announcement, the FBI detailed how malicious actors quickly converted stolen assets into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, spreading them across numerous blockchain addresses.
The FBI expects these funds to undergo further washing processes before they are exchanged for traditional Fiat currency.
Dubai-based crypto exchange BYBIT serves more than 60 million users worldwide.
The company revealed that the attackers manipulated the process during the daily transfer from a cold wallet (secure offline storage), and during transfers to the warm wallet used for daily transactions.
The operation transferred the 401,000 unauthorized relocations of Ethereum (ETH), valued at approximately US$1.5 billion, to an unclear address.
Despite the huge losses, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou reassured his client that the exchange would remain solvent.
He shared that all client assets are backed up one-to-one, and that unaffected wallets and withdrawal services continue to work normally.
Zhou also noted that in collaboration with forensic experts, the company’s security team is actively investigating cases in which it tracks and collects stolen funds.
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