Following Bybit’s significant hack, which saw approximately $1.4 billion worth of ether drained from its cold wallet, fellow cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has stepped in to offer crucial support. Bitget transferred 40,000 ether (ETH), valued at around $105 million, to Bybit, helping to stabilize the situation for the affected platform.
Bitget’s Support and Commitment to the Community
The funds Bitget provided come from its own reserves, ensuring that Bitget’s user deposits remain unaffected and securely stored. CEO Gracy Chen reassured the community that these reserves are separate from customer funds and can be verified through the platform’s proof of reserves. She also expressed that Bitget would continue offering support if needed.
At Bitget, we strongly believe in supporting the community and everyone contributing towards the growth of crypto,” said Chen in a statement shared with CoinDesk.
The Hack and the Movement of Stolen Funds
The hack, attributed to a suspected North Korean entity, drained Bybit’s ether cold wallet and set off a series of withdrawal requests from users. Despite the pressure, Bybit successfully processed 99% of the withdrawals, proving its resilience in a high-stress environment.
The stolen funds began moving shortly after the breach, with over 5,000 ETH sent through an eXch mixer, a service designed to obfuscate wallet addresses, before being converted into bitcoin (BTC) via the ChainFlip bridge protocol.
ChainFlip, however, stated that it was unable to prevent the transfer of funds, as it operates as a fully decentralized platform relying on smart contracts. Despite this, the service took precautions by disabling some of its frontend features to mitigate the flow of illicit funds.
Bitget’s Security Measures
In addition to the ether transfer, Bitget has blacklisted wallets tied to the hackers responsible for the Bybit breach. The exchange’s team of security experts and researchers is actively monitoring these wallets, preventing further illicit transactions from flowing into the platform.
“We will block any transactions flowing in from illicit addresses to the exchange once it has been monitored,” said Gracy Chen, emphasizing Bitget’s commitment to maintaining the integrity of the platform and supporting its peers in the industry.
Bybit’s Recovery and Restoration of Operations
Despite the massive hack and ongoing threat, Bybit has successfully processed over 350,000 withdrawal requests and has restored normal withdrawal operations, as confirmed in an X post. The exchange’s swift recovery and continued operations underscore its ability to manage a crisis, with support from its industry partners like Bitget helping to mitigate the damage.
This collaborative effort highlights the resilience of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, with exchanges coming together to support each other during challenging times. Bybit’s recovery remains underway, and the industry is closely watching how the exchange rebuilds trust and security in the aftermath of this significant attack.
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