Hello, tech enthusiasts! Today, we’re diving into the thrilling world of cryptocurrency and the incredible saga of the Bybit heist.

The audacious hackers who made away with approximately $1.4 billion in crypto from the Bybit exchange have been busy. They’ve successfully moved their ill-gotten gains and converted most of it into Bitcoin, marking what experts describe as the initial stage of a sophisticated money-laundering scheme.

Back on February 21, Bybit reported a “sophisticated attack” on one of its wallets that resulted in the staggering theft of 401,346 Ethereum, valued at around $1.4 billion—an amount that might very well represent the biggest crypto theft in history.

Various blockchain monitoring agencies, along with the FBI, have pointed fingers at the North Korean government as the alleged culprits behind this heist. Since the breach, the hackers have been actively transferring all the stolen Ethereum into multiple wallets, with the majority of the funds now converted to Bitcoin.

Experts like Tom Robinson from the crypto monitoring firm Elliptic have highlighted that they can trace about 90% of the stolen assets, most of which are now held across roughly 4,400 different addresses.

Interestingly, the hackers’ operations included not just moving the stolen assets but also obscuring their origins. They mainly utilized THORSwap, a decentralized protocol designed for swapping assets across various blockchains, without any intermediaries involved.

These actions showcase an extraordinary level of operational efficiency, with analysts suggesting that North Korea either has increased its money-laundering capabilities or that its underground financial networks—especially those in China—are now more equipped to handle such large sums of illicit cash.

Redbord emphasized that the speed of this laundering operation presents significant hurdles for investigators, who must contend with the overwhelming volume of shady transactions.

The hackers still have a long way to go to truly benefit from their haul, as pointed out by Robinson. The second phase reportedly involves mixing their Bitcoin through specialized services meant to disguise the funds’ origins, complicating any tracing efforts.

However, not all hope is lost for Bybit. There remains a likelihood that some of these funds could make their way through exchanges, where they might be frozen due to their shady origins. To incentivize recovery, Bybit has put up a whopping $140 million bounty for anyone who can help trace these funds.

As of now, they’ve already awarded about $4.3 million to 19 bounty hunters who have provided valuable assistance in this audacious crypto caper.