Key Insights
- The recent Bybit hack has turned out to be one of the largest hacks in crypto history, with suspected involvement from North Korean hackers.
- Analysts warn that the Accumulation Trend Score (ATS) shows declining confidence among institutional investors.
- Also, the absence of active accumulation raises concerns about the sustainability of Bitcoin’s price recovery.
Despite recent market fluctuations on the daily chart, Bitcoin (BTC) price experienced a notable surge yesterday. This broke above the short-term 20-day and 50-day EMA bands to reach $99,500.
Many experts speculated that this could signal a recovery from recent dips and a move out of its consolidation range. However, bearish sentiment appears to hold strong, preventing further upward movement.
The global theft-based crypto news has added to the concern, with reports that the crypto exchange Bybit had been hacked. This hack resulted in an estimated loss of nearly $1.5 Billion worth of tokens. That is seen as the largest theft in the industry to date.
Market Reacts to Bybit Hack: Bitcoin Price Faces Uncertainty
This occurrence sent a shocking nuclear tsunami through the market, forcing Bitcoin, Ether, and other token prices to plummet drastically. It led the price of Bitcoin to fall as low as $94,750, alarming investors.
However, the immediate impact on the Bitcoin price seems to be waning, with a slight recovery of 0.25%. Trading below the 20-day and 50-day EMA levels does not change this.
On intraday, the bulls quickly regained control. Moving ahead, they defended key support levels once again and pushed the price upward.
While these short-term gains are encouraging, the recent theft has undeniably demoralized market sentiment. Analysts are now urging caution as the broader implications of this incident continue to unfold. Keep reading to know more.
Suspected Involvement of North Korean and Similar Past Incidents
On Friday, this major hack targeted Bybit, a Dubai-based crypto exchange founded in 2018. It fell victim to a breach many researchers suspect was orchestrated by North Korean hackers.
Shahar Madar is a vice president of security and trust products at Fireblocks, which is assisting Bybit with the investigation. He noted that the attack resembles previous incidents involving the crypto exchange WazirX and lending protocol Radiant Capital.
The hackers gained access to one of Bybit’s offline Ethereum wallets, as announced by the exchange’s CEO, Ben Zhou, in a post on X. An estimated $1.46 billion in assets was pulled from the wallet through a series of suspicious transactions.
How This Hack Was Orchestrated?
The stolen assets included approximately $1.12 Billion worth of Ether and Ether derivatives like stETH. Research firm Nansen reported the same.
Arkham adds that the cryptos were initially transferred to one wallet before being dispersed into nearly 53 different wallets. Based on its intensity, this Bybit hack is recognized as the largest theft in crypto history. This surpassed the $611 Million stolen from Poly Network in 2021.
Research firm Arkham Intelligence confirmed around $1.4 Billion in outflows. They stated on X that “the funds have begun to move to new addresses where they are being sold.”
How Ben Zhou Is Handling This Hack?
To reassure clients, Zhou conducted a live stream on the social media platform X. He revealed that Bybit had secured about 80% of the funding needed to cover the loss through partner bridge loans.
The exchange is also actively working to recover the stolen funds and plans to take legal action against the hackers.
Since the incident, an unprecedented number of withdrawal requests have been seen. Zhou stated they have processed over 350,000 requests, leaving around 2,100 to complete. The exchange claims that 99.994% of withdrawals have been successfully processed.
Moreover, Zhou mentioned that some of the assets are being moved to Chainflip, a bridge to convert to Bitcoin. He urged the platform community to assist in blocking and preventing further conversions to other chains.
Additionally, he announced that Bybit would soon launch a bounty program for anyone. This would help trace or block the stolen funds, emphasizing the urgency of fund recovery efforts.
Analysts Highlight A Warning Sign For Bitcoin Price
Amid this hack timeline, Ali posted a pessimistic thought about Bitcoin price on X. He highlighted that a closer look at its ATS reveals a more cautious outlook from this point onwards in Bitcoin.
The metric ATS has exhibited a noticeable downward trend from late 2024 through February 2025. It typically tracks the Bitcoin price movements alongside its accumulation activity.
While the ATS tends to fluctuate with price changes, it has consistently remained lower in recent weeks. This decline indicated that the BTC price appears stable. However, large holders and institutional players may not be as inclined to accumulate at current levels.
Moreover, this stagnation or potential distribution in accumulation could signal waning confidence among the market’s biggest players.
Such behavior often suggested a lack of new demand from institutional investors. This raised concerns about the sustainability of the Bitcoin price recovery.
Disclaimer
In this article, the views and opinions stated by the author or any people named are for informational purposes only, and they don’t establish the investment, financial, or any other advice. Trading or investing in cryptocurrency assets comes with a risk of financial loss.
