Bybit closes $1.4b gap in Ethereum tokens through loans, whale deposits and ETH purchases, data shows

Crypto exchange Bybit, which lost over $1.4 billion in a suspected North Korean hacker attack, says it fully covered the loss within two days.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit covered its $1.46 billion loss from a recent hacker attack through a mix of loans, whale deposits, and Ethereum (ETH) purchases, blockchain data from Lookonchain shows.

In an X post on Feb. 24, Lookonchain showed that Bybit received 157,660 ETH (around $437.8 million) from one address, likely through over-the-counter buying. Another 109,033 ETH ($304.1 million) came from an entity that bought ETH from centralized and decentralized exchanges.

Whales and institutions contributed over $127 million in ETH as loans, while crypto exchange Bitget provided 40,000 ETH ($106 million) and MEXC contributed 12,653 stETH ($33.9 million) in loans. Another address, possibly an over-the-counter buyer, sent 22,609 ETH ($61.9 million).

An unknown entity transferred 20,000 ETH ($53.7 million), while Mirana Ventures sent 10,000 ETH ($28 million), and another address, possibly linked to Fenbushi Capital, sent the same amount. Smaller contributions came from users associated with “@yuchao” (2,499 ETH) and DWF Labs (2,200 ETH).

Following Lookonchain’s X post, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou took to X to announce that the exchange has “fully closed the ETH gap,” adding that the new audited proof-of-reserves report “will be published very soon to show that Bybit is again Back to 100% 1:1 on client assets through merkle tree.”

As crypto.news reported earlier, anonymous blockchain investigator ZachXBT found direct on-chain links between the Bybit hack and the recent Phemex breach. On-chain data shows the attackers merged funds from both incidents using the same initial theft addresses, a pattern similar to tactics used by North Korea-backed Lazarus Group to connect multiple exchange hacks.