Highlights
- The Bybit received industry support and froze $43 million in suspicious funds while stabilizing withdrawals.
- Adam Back blamed the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for the Bybit hack, citing its complexity and hardware wallet limitations.
- Back emphasized Bitcoin’s security advantages, reinforcing his stance as a Bitcoin maximalist amid Ethereum’s vulnerabilities.
On February 21, 2025, Bybit suffered a staggering loss of $1.46 Billion in Ethereum due to a hack assumed to be carried out by the group Lazarus.
In the aftermath, the exchange received support from the industry and has made strides in tracking the stolen funds.
This week, Bybit took proactive measures by purchasing ETH and securing a loan to help bridge the financial gap while also freezing $43 Million worth of suspicious funds.
Despite these efforts, the loss remains significant, leaving investors in shock as they grapple with the implications of this breach.
Amid the chaos, some analysts have pointed fingers at the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), suggesting it may bear some responsibility for the incident at Bybit.
As the situation unfolds, the crypto community watches closely, eager to see how the exchange will recover and what this means for the future of security in the industry. Keep reading to know more.
Noteworthy Events that Happened this Week on Bybit
The Dubai-based exchange fell victim to malware that was used to deceive the exchange into approving transactions that transferred funds from an affected ETH cold wallet to the hacker.
This incident marks the largest crypto heist in history, surpassing the $611 Million stolen from Poly Network in 2021 and the $582 Million BSC Token Hub hack in 2022.
In response to the crisis, Bybit’s CEO, Ben Zhou, went live on X for nearly two hours, addressing the situation and reassuring investors that the exchange would do everything possible to recover the stolen funds.
Despite these reassurances, the market reacted negatively, prompting many users to withdraw their assets from Bybit.
In light of the surge in withdrawal requests, the exchange worked carefully to fulfill these demands without halting any withdrawals.
They later confirmed that they had managed to stabilize both withdrawals and deposits, as verified by on-chain data.
During this chaos period, Bybit received support from partners such as Bitget Global, MEXC, and others.
As a result, the exchange announced in February 2025 that they had successfully closed the ETH gap.
They even shared a post from Lookonchain, revealing that partners had provided Bybit with $1.23 Billion worth of ETH through loans, whale deposits, and direct purchases.
Moreover, In their efforts to track the stolen funds, Bybit also froze $43 Million. Ben Zhou recently, hinted that the exchange would soon unveil new measures aimed at combating hacking and addressing fund recovery challenges in the coming days.
For Bybit Hack Analyst Blames the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Know Why?
On February 24, 2025, Adam Back, a well-known cypherpunk and CEO of Blockstream, took to X to share his opinions about the Bybit hack. He attributed part of the blame to the EVM.
He highlighted the EVM’s complexity, noting that hardware wallets like Ledger struggle to verify its transactions due to their limited processing power, which can lead to blind signing. This vulnerability allowed hackers to exploit the situation, ultimately draining Bybit’s cold wallet.
Back also pointed out that the inability of Ledger hardware wallets to verify EVM scripts due to their low processing power is a key issue, suggesting that hardware infrastructure is in need of upgrades.
Moreover, he boldly stated that the design of the EVM played a notable role in facilitating the hack. He explained the blind signing mechanism allowed hackers to exploit the smart contract, resulting in the theft of $1.4 Billion in ETH from Bybit’s cold wallet.
Analyst Says Bybit’s Hack was a Boost to Bitcoin Dominance
Furthermore, the analyst Adam Back’s remarks framed the Bybit hack as a boost for Bitcoin’s dominance in the crypto space.
He stated, “Bitcoin is secure and designed clearly with a security-first approach,” highlighting Bitcoin’s strengths in light of Ethereum’s vulnerabilities.
Following the discussions, Back even shared news of MicroStrategy’s $2 Billion Bitcoin investments, reinforcing his stance.
He accompanied this with a meme about the EVM, asserting that there is “no second best to Bitcoin,” further solidifying his position in the ongoing debate.
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.
