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NEWS: Bybit says $1.5 billion stolen in what could be biggest-ever crypto theft

AML Bitcoin CEO convicted of $2M fraud and money laundering scheme

Representations of cryptocurrencies are seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

By Arasu Kannagi Basil

CRYPTOCURRENCY exchange Bybit said on Friday an attacker gained control of an ether wallet and transferred around $1.5 billion worth of holdings to an unidentified address.

The ether cold wallet was the only one that was attacked and all other wallets of the exchange were unaffected, with withdrawals proceeding normally, CEO Ben Zhou said in a post on X.

“All client funds are safe, and our operations continue as usual without any disruption,” the company said, adding its security team, along with forensic experts, was investigating the incident.

Bybit caters to more than 60 million users worldwide and offers access to various cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether.

“Bybit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of clients assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss,” Zhou said.

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