The biggest hacker incident in the history of Web3, we witness the greatest solidarity

On February 21, 2025, an ordinary night, for the global crypto industry, was like a bombshell, tearing apart the calm surface of encryption.

At 11:20 p.m. Beijing time on the 21st, ZachXBT, a detective in the currency circle, issued a statement saying that it had monitored a large amount of capital outflows on the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, with a total amount of up to US$1.46 billion.

Some people began to wonder whether this was just a "normal wallet sorting" operation, and some people were premonitioning the arrival of a crisis in their hearts.

Bybit co-founder Ben Zhou confirmed that Bybit was hacked and $1.44 billion worth of funds were stolen.

Faced with such a large amount, people realized that this is not only the largest hacker attack in the history of Web3 blockchain to date, but also an industry crisis.

Cracking and Unity in the World

In order to understand the importance of this hack, we need to review the impact on the industry after the fall of the "FTX storm" incident a few years ago.

At that time, FTX, as the top two giants in the crypto industry, directly caused the crypto market to fall into a violent turmoil at the moment of collapse.

FTX's misappropriation of user assets not only impacted the trust of the entire industry, but also caused the crypto field to experience a trough for months.

At that time, BTC fell below $17,000, and crypto accelerated its turn into a bear market, making the future of the industry full of uncertainty.

But unlike the FTX incident, Bybit's hacking attack this time was not a betrayal from within the industry, but a malicious invasion from external hacking organizations.

Behind this hacking incident, it is not just an impact on the security of digital assets, it also reveals the changes in a world of things.

——A decentralized encrypted world, how to let go of past disputes, unite and meet challenges when facing common enemies.

In martial arts novels, the world is always full of competition between heroes and evil forces, and hackers are the "evil forces" hidden in the shadows.

They are often hidden in the darkness, but they can create disasters in an instant.

In this incident, Bybit's cold wallet was attacked, and the hackers behind it were undoubtedly synonymous with evil. And the "knight" standing in this crisis is every participant in the crypto industry.

Up to now, Bybit has also completed an unprecedented crisis public relations response. In addition to its own response, they have also received support from all forces in the industry.

In this decentralized world, only unity can resist external evil forces.

After the incident, Binance and He Yi and others posted messages to express their concern and expressed their willingness to provide help.

Justin Sun, founder of TRON and global consultant of Huobi HTX, expressed his concern immediately: "We are paying close attention to Bybit security incidents, and will do our best to assist partners in tracking relevant funds and provide all support within our ability."

North Korean hacker group, the biggest enemy of the crypto industry

On-chain detective ZachXBT submitted conclusive evidence at 3:09 am Beijing time to confirm that the attack on Bybit was carried out by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group.

ZachXBT's analysis report contains detailed information such as pre-attack test transactions, associated wallet analysis, multiple forensic charts, and timeline analysis.

At present, Bybit hacker ETH holds more than Fidelity and Vitalik, becoming the 14th largest holder in the world.

The Lazarus Group is a hacker group of unknown numbers of people, allegedly manipulated by the North Korean government.

While people have limited knowledge of the organization, researchers have blamed them for multiple cyber attacks since 2010.

Unlike FTX's "insider" who is involved, this time, the hacker has clear goals and efficient means. The entire attack is like a gust of wind in the dark, quickly and deadly.

After the hacking incident broke out, Ben Zhou wrote on social media: "We will always announce the latest developments in the incident to everyone. If any team can help us track stolen funds, it will be greatly appreciated."

It is at this moment that we see unity that the crypto industry has never been.

This morning, Bitget supported 40,000 ETH (approximately US$105.9 million) loans to Bybit to survive the withdrawal wave after ETH was stolen. These ETHs were transferred directly from Bitget to Bybit cold wallet address.

MEXC transferred 12,600 stETH to Bybit Hot Wallet, worth approximately US$33.75 million.

Du Jun, co-founder of ABCDE, posted on the X platform, saying, "I will also recharge 10,000 ETH to Bybit today, and will not submit it within a month."

This scene is quite similar to the plot of a hero seeking help in a dilemma in traditional martial arts novels.

In times of crisis, the heroes in the world will let go of their grudges and unite to fight against the evil forces.

And this time, it is the heroes of the crypto industry who stand up and use great courage and wisdom to jointly fight against the dark forces in the online world.

In this storm, Bybit is not alone. Supporters of his peers have joined the battle to help track stolen funds and prevent hackers from continuing to destroy the industry.

When the entire crypto industry faces external risks and challenges, it can rely on the collaboration and resource integration of important participants in the industry to form a solid "moat".

This moat is not only a technical line of defense, but also a consensus and cooperation mechanism within the industry.

Under the protection of this moat, whether it is hacking attacks, periodic fluctuations, or external political and technological wars, they can be effectively resisted.

Of course, some people are also trying to "sarcastically" who is the real friend.

The security expert Cosine said very well, don’t worry about it, don’t forget who our common enemy is.

As the traditional martial arts world teaches us: only unity can resist foreign enemies; only trust can seek light in the dark.

This Bybit incident may be just the beginning. With the popularization and development of blockchain technology, security threats will become more and more complex and more difficult to predict.

But as long as each of us faces a crisis, we can be like these "knights" today.

Let go of prejudice, the future of Web3 remains bright.

Fuck those hackers!