Bybit Sues North Korea Over $1.5B Hack, Wins Order Freezing Assets
Summary
Bybit filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. federal court against North Korea, its Reconnaissance General Bureau, Lazarus Group, and unidentified defendants over the February 2025 theft of about $1.5 billion in crypto. A judge issued a preliminary injunction freezing identified assets and found Bybit likely to prevail. Bybit says about $48.4 million has been recovered and $30.5 million frozen across 28+ exchanges and custodians, roughly 5% of the stolen funds. The attack drained about 500,000 ETH from a cold wallet by manipulating the signing interface. Bybit says it is cooperating with investigators, exchanges, regulators, and law enforcement, and the civil case is proceeding alongside criminal probes.
