Bybit Fights Back: $140M Bounty Targets Lazarus Group Hackers

Bybit, the cryptocurrency exchange that survived a $1.4 billion hack, has launched an aggressive countermeasure to track and eliminate the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group.

On Tuesday, February 25, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced the launch of Lazarusbounty.com, the first-ever hack bounty site, aimed at exposing the money laundering activities of the sanctioned hacker group.

Bybit’s bounty program comes with a $140 million reward, representing 29% of the stolen funds, incentivizing crypto analysts, security experts, and ethical hackers to track the laundered assets.

💰 How the Bybit Hack Bounty Works

To encourage widespread participation, Bybit will split the 10% bounty reward:

• 5% will go to the individual/entity that successfully traces stolen funds.
• 5% will be awarded to the party responsible for freezing the assets.

So far, $4.2 million has been awarded to five bounty hunters, including:

• Mantle Network
• ZachXBT
• Zeroshadow
• Binance Exchange

However, despite these efforts, $94.1 million has already been successfully laundered by the Lazarus Group through the Belize-based eXch protocol, which has been exploited due to lax KYC requirements.

🔍 How to Participate in Bybit’s Hack Bounty

To join the hack bounty program, participants must:

1️⃣ Connect their crypto wallet to assist in tracing stolen assets.
2️⃣ Submit a bounty report with detailed findings.
3️⃣ If their report leads to a successful fund freeze, they receive 5% of the recovered funds upfront.

Bybit has also announced a live tracking feature, which will soon allow users to monitor real-time wallet balances and claim participation in tracking specific funds.

📉 Bybit Buys $574M in ETH to Restore Stability

In a bold move, Bybit has purchased over 212,100 Ethereum (ETH)—worth $574 million—via OTC platforms over the past three days.

This move helps Bybit restore its financial health and repay borrowed funds, including significant obligations to Bitget.

🇮🇳 Bybit Resumes Operations in India

After one and a half months of closure, Bybit has resumed services in India, following regulatory approval.

💥 A United Web3 Front Against Lazarus Group

The launch of Bybit’s hack bounty signals a coordinated effort to fight Lazarus Group, which, according to Chainalysis, has stolen more than $3.4 billion in crypto over the past two years.

Bybit’s initiative may mark a new era of community-driven cybersecurity, bringing together white-hat hackers, blockchain forensic teams, and security firms to track and recover stolen crypto assets.

With billions still in play, the fight against state-backed cybercrime in Web3 is only just beginning.