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The FBI has issued a warning to the cryptocurrency industry, urging platforms and individuals to avoid laundering funds stolen from Bybit after North Korean hackers looted $1.5 billion from the exchange last week.
In a security alert posted Wednesday, the FBI attributed the attack to the infamous TraderTraitor/Lazarus Group, the same North Korean-backed cybercriminals linked to massive crypto heists in recent years. The assessment aligns with findings from top cybersecurity researchers.
The FBI also released a list of Ethereum wallet addresses tied to the hack, urging crypto firms, DeFi services, and exchanges to monitor and block transactions linked to these addresses to prevent the stolen assets from being laundered.
Stolen Funds Moving Rapidly
“TraderTraitor actors are proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains,” the FBI alert stated. “It is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency.”
According to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, approximately $400 million of the stolen funds have already been laundered.
“Beyond the sheer scale of the Bybit hack, the speed at which the stolen funds are being laundered is particularly alarming,” TRM Labs noted on Thursday.
Attack Origin and Response
The wallet service Safe confirmed that the breach originated from a compromised Safe Wallet developer machine, which allowed attackers to infiltrate a Bybit-operated account. Safe stated that new security measures have been implemented to close off the attack vector.
Bybit has responded with one of the largest bounty offers in crypto history, pledging up to $140 million to anyone who can prove they’ve frozen stolen funds. As of Thursday morning, 12 bounty hunters had been awarded a combined $4.2 million for freezing assets linked to the hack.
FBI’s Call to Action
The FBI urged RPC node operators, crypto exchanges, DeFi platforms, and other industry players to actively block transactions associated with TraderTraitor-linked addresses to stop further laundering.
This latest attack highlights the growing scale of North Korean-backed crypto heists, as state-sponsored hackers continue to exploit vulnerabilities in the digital asset space to fund their regime and bypass international sanctions.
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