Bybit sues North Korea over $1.5 billion crypto hack
Bybit has filed a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, its intelligence agency the Reconnaissance General Bureau, and the hacker collective known as Lazarus Group. The suit seeks to recover roughly $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency stolen on 21 February 2025, including more than 400,000 ETH and stETH.
A preliminary injunction was granted, freezing the identified stolen digital assets while the case proceeds. Bybit’s co‑founder and CEO Ben Zhou said the exchange’s priority is to protect users, recover as much of the lost funds as possible, and hold the perpetrators accountable. The civil action runs alongside a separate criminal investigation by U.S. law‑enforcement agencies.
The legal move marks a rare instance of a cryptocurrency exchange directly suing a sovereign state and its affiliated hacking group, potentially setting a precedent for future cross‑border cyber‑crime recovery efforts.
Entities: Ben Zhou · Bybit · Lazarus Group · North Korea (DPRK) · Reconnaissance General Bureau
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 2 SOURCES] The theft involved over 400,000 ETH and stETH. (Bybit)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said the company’s focus is protecting users, recovering assets, and holding attackers accountable. (Ben Zhou)
- [● 2 SOURCES] A preliminary injunction was issued freezing the identified stolen digital assets. (U.S. District Court)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Bybit filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against North Korea, its Reconnaissance General Bureau, and Lazarus Group. (Bybit)
- [● 2 SOURCES] The lawsuit seeks recovery of about $1.5 billion stolen in February 2025. (Bybit)
- [● 2 SOURCES] U.S. law‑enforcement agencies are conducting a parallel criminal investigation. (U.S. authorities)