Following an attack by a group of hackers last week that resulted in the theft of $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum, Bybit announced that it would reward those who can assist in tracking, detecting, and freezing the funds with $140 million. Bybit’s Co-Founder and CEO Ben Zhou announced on his official X account that individuals aiding in finding the stolen Ethereum (ETH) assets will be rewarded. According to the statement on the official website, individuals who find any portion of the funds and the organization that freezes them will each receive a 5% share.

WHAT HAPPENED?
On Friday, February 20, 2025, 401,346 ETH was stolen from an offline wallet of the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in a sophisticated cyber attack. At the time of the incident, this amount was equivalent to $1.4 billion. This attack has been recorded as the largest crypto theft in history.
As a result of the work of cybersecurity experts, it was revealed that the North Korea-backed hacker group Lazarus was behind this theft.

WHO IS LAZARUS?
Lazarus Group is a hacker community alleged to be linked to the North Korean government. Established in 2009, this group drew attention with cyber espionage and cyber warfare activities. Using various methods such as security vulnerabilities, phishing attacks, malicious software, and backdoors, Lazarus has targeted numerous major companies and institutions worldwide.
In 2014, Lazarus made headlines with a major cyber attack on Sony Pictures. During this attack, the company’s sensitive financial information, customers’ personal data, and unreleased films were seized.
In 2016, the same group was identified behind one of the largest bank robberies in history, stealing $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh. A year later, Lazarus was also found to be the culprit behind the theft of $60 million from the Far Eastern International Bank in Taiwan.

ZHOU DECLARES WAR ON CYBERCRIME
Bybit CEO Zhou emphasized that they will not back down in the fight against individuals and groups involved in cybercrimes like crypto theft. In a written statement, Zhou stated, “We will not stop until Lazarus or the bad actors in the industry are eliminated,” and mentioned that rewards could also be distributed in the future to secure the assets of other individuals and institutions previously targeted by Lazarus.

OVER $4 MILLION IN REWARDS ALREADY GIVEN
According to the reliable source Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, Bybit has already paid $4,230,000 to five bounty hunters who aided them. A simple calculation suggests that this amount signifies the detection of 3% of Bybit’s stolen funds.