Bybit wasted no time in repaying the 40,000 Ether loan it borrowed from Bitget. This allowed Bybit to settle the $104 million debt within three days, according to Cointelegraph. Moreover, this move comes after the massive $1.4 billion hack on Feb. 21, which has been attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
Despite the staggering attack, Bybit managed to replenish most of its stolen assets and kept operations running without major disruption. The exchange took out the ETH loan to ensure smooth withdrawals, as investors rushed to withdraw over $5 billion on Feb. 22.
Bitget CEO Praises Bybit’s Quick Recovery
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen confirmed the repayment and emphasized that the loan was extended without interest or collateral. “No interest, no collateral—this was simply about supporting a peer in need,” she stated.
Additionally, Bybit has since recovered about 88% of the stolen assets through a mix of loans, whale deposits, and purchases, according to Lookonchain.
Investigators Track Down the Hackers
Crypto sleuth ZachXBT linked the exploit to Lazarus Group. This huge discovery earned him a 50,000 Arkham token bounty for his findings. Analysts suspect the stolen funds may be laundered through crypto mixing services, making recovery efforts more challenging.
While Ethereum dropped 7% following the attack, Bybit’s fast repayment and asset replenishment may help restore investor confidence in the platform. At the time of writing, ETH is sitting at $2,426.18.
