Bybit Reportedly Suffered a $1.5 Billion Hack

Crypto exchange Bybit confirmed a hack resulting in the loss of 401,346 ETH, worth approximately $1.13 billion at the time, from a cold wallet. The Bybit CEO stated the attackers tricked authorized personnel into approving a malicious smart contract change disguised as a normal transfer. This gave the hacker control of the wallet and allowed them to transfer the funds to an unknown address. The incident immediately impacted Ethereum's price, causing a drop of over 4%, as large amounts of the stolen ETH, including nearly $200 million worth of Lido Staked Ether (stETH), were liquidated. Security experts compared the attack to the 2024 WazirX and Radiant Capital hacks, noting similarities in the manipulation of multisig wallets and blind signing.