Bybit sues North Korea and Lazarus Group over $1.5 billion hack, secures asset freeze

PolicyBybit sues North Korea and Lazarus Group over $1.5 billion hack, secures asset freezeThe exchange has secured a preliminary injunction freezing stolen assets. By Ian Allison|Edited by Cheyenne Ligon, Nikhilesh De1 hr ago2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on SummaryShowBybit filed a civil lawsuit against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), its intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), and state-sanctioned hacking organization the Lazarus Group.The preliminary injunction from a federal U.S. court prohibits the transfer or dissipation of identified assets connected to the case while litigation continues.Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, has filed a civil lawsuit against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), its Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB) intelligence agency and the Lazarus Group, identified as the DPRK-linked hacking group responsible for stealing $1.5 billion from the exchange last year.In addition to the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Bybit said it won a preliminary injunction freezing certain stolen assets held by a group of unidentified individuals and entities, named in the case as John Doe defendants, the exchange said in a press release on Friday.On February 21, 2025, the North Korean state-sponsored Lazarus Group f allegedly executed the largest cryptocurrency heist in history, stealing approximately $1.5 billion in Ethereum (over 400,000 ETH and stETH) from Dubai-based Bybit. The Bybit hack made up a bulk of the $2.02 billion in crypto stolen by North Korea last year. In total, North Korean hackers have stolen $6.75 billion worth of crypto, according to data from Chainalysis. The country is widely believed to use its ill-gotten crypto to fund its weapons program. “The order is intended to preserve identified stolen digital assets while the litigation conti…

Bybit sues North Korea and Lazarus Group over $1.5 billion hack, secures asset freeze

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