The FBI has launched a press release confirming that the Democratic Folks’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was answerable for the largest crypto hack ever that noticed $1.5 billion drained from the Bybit change earlier this month.
The assertion, issued through the FBI’s Web Crime Criticism Middle, begins, “The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is releasing this PSA to advise the Democratic Folks’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was answerable for the theft of roughly $1.5 billion USD in digital property from cryptocurrency change, Bybit, on or about February 21, 2025.
“FBI refers to this specific North Korean malicious cyber activity as “TraderTraitor.”
In accordance with the assertion, TraderTraitor actors have been quickly changing the stolen property to bitcoin and “other virtual assets,” through hundreds of addresses and a number of blockchains.
It provides that it expects these property to ultimately be transformed to fiat foreign money. It then goes on to listing a collection of Ethereum addresses that the FBI says are holding property from the theft, and are operated by or linked to TraderTraitor actors.
For the reason that February 21 hack, many crypto providers have been struggling to manage the laundering of legal proceeds with some claiming to have recovered funds.
Within the rapid aftermath, prospects rushed to withdraw over $4 billion in deposits. Nonetheless, Bybit was in a position to safe some loans and inside days claimed to have replenished liquidity to again buyer deposits on a 1:1 foundation.
