$1.4B Stolen, Draining 8.64% of Exchange’s Reserves | Airdrop Alert Pro

Today’s Ether (Eth) and staked Ether (steth) have been hacked for about $1.4 billion. Blockchain analyst Zachxbt first marked the suspicious outflow, confirming his source. Bybit’s CEO Ben Zhou later confirmed the attack, noting that the hackers gained control over a specific cold wallet and transferred all ETH.

According to data from Arkham Intelligence, $1 billion worth of ETH (400,000 ETH) has now been transferred from the original hacking address to the new wallet. The latest data from Arkham shows that Bybit Hacker currently holds 1.37B of ETH and has used 53 wallets so far. This exploitation marks the largest cryptocurrency hack to date, accounting for 16% of all cryptocurrency hacks.

Bybit’s reserve proof yesterday showed that it had 543,453 ETH, owing users 537,152 ETH and remaining over 6,301 ETH. However, the hacker discharged 401,346 ETH, far exceeding the surplus held by Bybit. Before the hack, Bybit’s reserve assets were worth $16.2 billion. The stolen funds totaled 401,346 ETH, accounting for 8.64% of the total exchange reserves.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed that due to the large amount, the exchange will not immediately purchase ETH to compensate for hacker losses. However, he guaranteed that 80% of the required ETH has been secured through a bridge loan.

Where did the stolen Eth go?

After taking 401,346 ETHs, the hackers dispersed the funds in several wallets: 39 addresses received 10,000 ETHs per 39 addresses, and 9 other addresses, and 10,000 ETHs per address. Analysts believe this could be an attempt to launder money by scattering stolen funds in multiple wallets to complicate tracking.

Ether, BTC crashes

Earlier in the day, briefly approaching $100,000, Bitcoin (BTC) fell to around $97,000, while Ether (ETH) fell nearly 4% to below $2,700. The sudden price drop triggered liquidation of approximately $100 million in leveraged derivatives positions, mainly from long traders expecting price increases.

The crypto market was reversing earlier earnings that day and is now on a downward trend. Sold out is much bigger than the stock market. While the impact may be temporary, the market decline showed signs of moderate investor panic, with weak performance in U.S. stocks worsening further.