ByBit Loses $1.4 Billion in Sophisticated Crypto Hack Targeting Its Ethereum Cold Wallet

In what is likely to end up as one of the biggest crypto-related hacks of the past few months, ByBit crypto exchange has lost control over one of its Ethereum cold wallets

Crypto exchange ByBit has announced that it has lost control over one of its Ethereum cold wallets in a “sophisticated attack.” The exchange discovered the unauthorized activity while the cold wallet was executing a transfer to the exchange's warm wallet.

However, ByBit claims that “all client funds are safe, and our operations continue as usual without any disruption.” The exchange is working with blockchain forensic experts and partners to investigate the incident and is seeking assistance from teams with expertise in blockchain analytics and fund recovery.

This incident follows a recent report by Chainalysis, which found that crypto platforms lost a total of $2.2 billion in assets to hackers in the fiscal year 2024. Of this amount, private key compromises accounted for the largest share, at 43.8%.

The theft of crypto assets through exchange hacks has become a persistent problem, posing a significant threat to the wider adoption of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.