The biggest digital heist in history just occurred

Hackers stole ~400,000 ether worth ~$1.4 billion from Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, the exchange revealed Friday. The news sent crypto prices down, and Danny Ocean into a crashout after learning he’s not the best thief on Earth.

• The hack marks the largest ever crypto theft, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, surpassing the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021.
• For scale: ~$2.2 billion was stolen from crypto platforms throughout all of last year, according to a report by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

How it happened: The hackers were able to take control of one of Bybit’s offline “cold” wallets, then transfer and liquidate the funds it contained through various platforms (see a more technical breakdown).

Bybit says all its other wallets were unaffected and that it can cover the loss, even if the funds are never recovered.

Whodunnit? Some reports suggest the perpetrators are North Korean state hackers. Attacks by North Korean groups have plagued the crypto industry for years.

💸 Zoom out: The heist is likely the biggest in history – digital or otherwise. The withdrawal of ~$1 billion from the Central Bank of Iraq is thought to be the largest theft of all time, outpacing the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist, where thieves made off with 13 paintings worth an estimated ~$200 million at the time.