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Most Stolen Bybit Funds Already Laundered, Experts Say

The assets have mostly been turned into Bitcoin and spread across about 4,400 addresses.

North Korean hackers have mostly laundered the nearly $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum exfiltrated from Bybit last month.

According to blockchain experts, reported by TechCrunch, most of the almost 90 percent of stolen Bybit assets tracked by Chainalysis have already been turned into Bitcoin and spread across about 4,400 addresses.

TRM Labs global head of policy Ari Redbord said that the initial laundering phase, which involved the obfuscation of the stolen cryptocurrency's origins, has since been followed by the depositing of some Bitcoin into cryptocurrency mixers to complicate investigations surrounding the breach.

Despite such a development, Bybit may still be able to recover some of its pilfered cryptocurrency assets, said Tom Robinson, co-founder and chief scientist of crypto monitoring firm Elliptic.

"It's likely that at least some of these funds will pass through exchanges, where they could potentially be frozen. It's just a question of whether those exchanges are aware quickly enough that they are handling stolen assets," Robinson added.


Dan Raywood
Dan Raywood Senior Editor SC Media UK

Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 16 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.

He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Conference, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and ESET Security Days.

Outside work, Dan enjoys supporting Tottenham Hotspur, managing mischievous cats, and sampling craft beers.

Dan Raywood
Dan Raywood Senior Editor SC Media UK

Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 16 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.

He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Conference, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and ESET Security Days.

Outside work, Dan enjoys supporting Tottenham Hotspur, managing mischievous cats, and sampling craft beers.

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