Bybit Sues North Korea Over Record-Breaking $1.5B Crypto Hack

Crypto exchange Bybit has taken legal action against North Korea and its state-linked hacking outfit, the Lazarus Group, over the theft of $1.5 billion in February 2025.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, naming the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, its Reconnaissance General Bureau, and unidentified individuals and entities holding or moving the funds as defendants.

A judge granted a preliminary injunction freezing identified stolen assets while the case proceeds, finding Bybit likely to succeed on the merits. Bybit has already recovered around $48.4 million and frozen about $30.5 million across more than 28 exchanges and custodians, amounting to approximately 5% of what was taken.

The theft occurred when attackers drained roughly 500,000 ETH from a Bybit cold wallet by manipulating a signing interface. The stolen funds were mostly converted to Bitcoin via Thorchain and pushed through mixers including Wasabi, Tornado Cash, and Railgun.