Bybit CEO describes how hackers launder stolen Ethereum via Bitcoin mixers

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has explained how hackers are turning to Bitcoin mixers to launder the $1.5 billion in Ethereum stolen from the exchange last month.

In an update shared on X on March 20, Zhou disclosed that 193 BTC, approximately $16 million, from the stolen funds, were funneled through Wasabi Wallet before being distributed across various P2P vendors.

In addition to Wasabi, Zhou disclosed that the hackers are using other mixers, such as CryptoMixer, Railgun, and Tornado Cash.

He added:

“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 allow users to blend their crypto transactions with others, making tracing funds on public blockchains difficult. While privacy-conscious users often use these services, cybercriminals have also leveraged them to conceal illicit activity.

As a result, regulators have sanctioned platforms like Tornado Cash for their role in laundering stolen assets.

Stolen funds are still partially traceable

Despite the ongoing laundering attempts, 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, 7.59% has been rendered untraceable, and 3.54% has been frozen.

He further detailed that 440,091 ETH, valued at approximately $1.23 billion, has been converted into 12,836 BTC and distributed across 9,117 wallets.

Bybit has been actively investigating the breach, receiving 5,012 bounty reports over the past month. However, only 63 provided actionable intelligence. Zhou has urged more bounty hunters to help track assets laundered through crypto mixers.

While Bybit has remained operational following the attack, the incident’s aftermath continues to weigh on the exchange.

On-chain data shows that Bybit’s market share dropped from nearly 20% on Feb. 21 to around 5% by March 2. However, the exchange has since rebounded, climbing to 10% as of March 19, according to Kaiko data.

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