Bybit Hack: Reports Disagree on Amount of ETH Stolen

crypto.news and Decrypt both cover Bybit's lawsuit against North Korea but give different figures for how much Ether was drained in the February 2025 hack.

What all sources agree on

Bybit filed a civil lawsuit on August 7, 2026, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The defendants named are the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, its Reconnaissance General Bureau, and the Lazarus Group, with unidentified holders of stolen assets named as John Doe defendants.
A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction freezing identified stolen assets while litigation proceeds.
The underlying theft occurred on February 21, 2025, and was valued at approximately $1.5 billion at the time.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou issued a statement framing the lawsuit in terms of accountability.

Where the reports disagree

1Amount of ETH stolen in the February 2025 breach

The February 21, 2025 breach drained more than 400,000 Ether and staked Ether from Bybit.

crypto.news 2026-08-10 06:48

Attackers drained roughly 500,000 ETH from a Bybit cold wallet in February 2025.

Decrypt 2026-08-10 09:04

What would settle it: On-chain transaction records of the February 21, 2025 Bybit cold wallet withdrawal, or Bybit's own incident disclosure specifying the exact ETH amount.

What to make of it

Treat the lawsuit's filing date, court, named defendants, injunction, and $1.5 billion valuation as established; the exact amount of ETH stolen (400,000 vs. 500,000) is unresolved and should not be cited as a precise figure until the underlying on-chain data or Bybit's own disclosure is checked.

How this story was corroborated

5 independent publishers reported this story, each reaching it separately. Their own coverage is linked below - read it and check us. 2 of them published after we did, the first 16h 11m later.

crypto.newsBybit is suing North Korea, and it might actually work5h 46m before we published
DecryptBybit Sues North Korea Over $1.5B Hack, Wins Order Freezing Assets3h 31m before we published
UNLOCK BlockchainBybit Sues North Korea Over $1.5 Billion Crypto Heist, Secures Court Order to Freeze Stolen Assets1h 49m before we published
NFTeveningBybit Wins U.S. Court Order to Freeze Crypto Linked to $1.5B North Korea Hack16h 11m after we published
Fintech News Middle EastBybit Files US$1.5 Billion Lawsuit Against North Korea, Lazarus Group21h 21m after we published

Times are each publisher's own, measured against ours. We count publishers, not articles: several feeds from one newsroom count once, and where a newsroom filed twice we show when it first carried the story. The number rises as further publishers confirm it, for 24 hours after publication.