Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has detailed how hackers are using Bitcoin mixers to launder $1.5 billion in Ethereum stolen from the exchange last month. In an update shared on X on March 20, Zhou reported that 193 BTC, worth about $16 million, from the stolen funds were routed through Wasabi Wallet and then dispersed across various P2P vendors. In addition to Wasabi, the hackers are also utilizing other mixers like CryptoMixer, Railgun, and Tornado Cash.
He stated:
“We believe this trend will grow as more funds will go through mixers. Decoding mixer transactions is the no.1 challenge we face now. If you can help, please reach out.”
Crypto mixers enable users to combine their crypto transactions with others, complicating the tracing of funds on public blockchains. Although these services are often used by privacy-conscious individuals, cybercriminals have exploited them to obscure illegal activities. Consequently, regulators have sanctioned platforms like Tornado Cash for their involvement in laundering stolen assets.
Despite the laundering efforts, most of the stolen assets remain traceable. Zhou confirmed that 88.87% of the stolen 500,000 ETH, worth nearly $1.5 billion, can still be tracked, while 7.59% has become untraceable, and 3.54% has been frozen. He also noted that 440,091 ETH, valued at approximately $1.23 billion, has been converted into 12,836 BTC and spread across 9,117 wallets.
Bybit is actively investigating the breach and has received 5,012 bounty reports in the past month, with only 63 offering actionable intelligence. Zhou has encouraged more bounty hunters to assist in tracking assets laundered through crypto mixers.
While Bybit has continued operations after the attack, the incident has affected the exchange’s market share, which dropped from nearly 20% on Feb. 21 to around 5% by March 2. However, it has since recovered, climbing to 10% as of March 19, according to Kaiko data.
*Shared on Twitter.*
