ByBit Exchange Breach: Over $1.4 Billion in ETH-Related Tokens Stolen

ByBit suffered a significant security breach on February 21, with a hacker draining over $1.4 billion in Ethereum-based assets from the platform’s cold wallet. The exploit targeted liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and various ERC-20 tokens, as revealed by blockchain security analyst ZachXBT.

ByBit CEO Responds to the Security Breach

Following the attack, ByBit’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Zhou, confirmed the incident and reassured users that other cold wallets remained secure. According to Zhou, the attacker manipulated a transaction from the exchange’s multisignature wallet to a warm wallet, embedding malicious code that altered the smart contract logic and facilitated the theft.

Despite the massive loss, Zhou emphasized that ByBit remains solvent and all client assets are fully backed:

“ByBit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered. All of the client’s assets are 1-to-1 backed — we can cover the loss.”

The exchange also issued a statement on X, assuring users that withdrawals remain unaffected and operations continue as usual. Meanwhile, security experts have urged users to blacklist the hacker’s wallet addresses to prevent further damage.

February Sees a Surge in Crypto Security Incidents

The ByBit breach is the latest in a string of high-profile hacks in early 2025. On February 14, ZkLend, a Starknet-based money-market protocol, lost $9.5 million in an attack. However, cybersecurity firm Cyvers reported that the stolen funds were later recovered after the hacker attempted to launder them through Ethereum and Railgun.

On February 5, Jupiter, a decentralized exchange on Solana, and former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad both fell victim to social media exploits, with hackers using their accounts to promote fraudulent memecoins.

Additionally, Eliza Labs founder Shaw Walters had his X account hijacked, with the attacker posting scam links despite Walters having two-factor authentication enabled.

With security breaches escalating, ByBit and other exchanges are under growing pressure to strengthen their cybersecurity measures and restore confidence in the crypto industry.

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