Bybit Bounces Back: Crypto Giant Restores Withdrawals After $1.5B Hack

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has successfully processed all pending withdrawals and restored its system to normal operations following a significant hack that occurred on February 21. The hack, which drained Ethereum-related tokens from the exchange, was the largest in the crypto industry's 15-year history, with an estimated loss of $1.5 billion.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced the completion of withdrawal processing and the return to normal operations in a February 22 X post. He assured users that there are no longer any limits or delays on withdrawals and apologized for the unexpected incident. Zhou also confirmed that a full incident report and security assessment will be released in the coming days.

Earlier, Zhou had warned Bybit customers in a February 21 livestream that withdrawals could take hours due to heavy congestion following the hack. At the time, the exchange had around 4,000 pending withdrawal transactions.

The crypto industry has praised Bybit and Zhou for their handling of the situation. EasyDNS CEO Mark Jeftovic commended Zhou for managing the situation well, while The Moon Show host Carl Moon expressed respect for how the situation was handled. 0xJeff even described it as a "masterclass in crisis management and communication."

In a show of support, crypto exchanges Bitget and Crypto.com have pledged their assistance to Bybit. Bitget transferred 4,000 Ether (ETH), worth around $105 million, to support the exchange. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen stated that the exchange has blacklisted the hacker's wallets and will block any transactions flowing in from illicit addresses to the exchange once monitored.