US Court Sides with Bybit in North Korea Hacking Case

A US court has sided with cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in its bid to trace funds from a massive $1.5 billion North Korea-linked hack. The court granted Bybit's request for expedited discovery, giving the company a way to identify intermediaries and pursue a portion of the stolen assets.

Bybit filed the lawsuit against North Korea, its Reconnaissance General Bureau, the Lazarus Group, and 20 unidentified defendants on June 18. The court granted Bybit's request for expedited discovery on June 19, allowing the company to obtain account-holder identities, balances, and transaction histories from certain platforms.

The hack occurred on February 21, 2025, when attackers compromised Safe Wallet's infrastructure using compromised credentials belonging to a Safe developer. Forensic investigators said malicious code was injected into its cloud infrastructure, allowing the attackers to steal $1.5 billion in cryptocurrencies.

Bybit says that 90% of the stolen funds have become untraceable after passing through mixers, cross-chain bridges, and over-the-counter dealers. However, 9.8% of the total amount remains traceable, with approximately $75.5 million frozen or recovered.