Bybit Expands Bounty Program, Offering 5% 'Upfront' Payment to Those Who Help Freeze Funds Stolen by Lazarus Group

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has announced the expansion of its bounty program, promising to pay 5% of the value of frozen funds to exchanges, coin mixers, or any individuals who can help freeze funds stolen by Lazarus Group, a hacker group believed to be affiliated with the North Korean government.

The Biggest Hack in History

On Friday, Bybit fell victim to the biggest exchange hack in history when Lazarus Group stole $1.5 billion in Ethereum (ETH). Bybit CEO Ben Zhou immediately responded, publicly disclosing information about the incident and working to recover assets from the hackers. To support this process, Bybit has introduced a special bounty program through the website lazarusbounty.com, where anyone can connect their wallet and become a “bounty hunter” for Bybit.

Ben Zhou also emphasized the monitoring of the behavior of actors on the website. “Those who assist Lazarus in conducting sanctioned transactions will be listed as bad actors,” he said. “We will not stop until Lazarus and the bad actors in the industry are eliminated.”

5% Bonus for Those Who Help Freeze Funds

Bybit promises to pay a 5% bonus to any exchange, coin mixer, or individual who can help freeze the stolen funds. The payments will be made “immediately upon freezing,” demonstrating Bybit’s determination to protect users’ assets.

Following the attack, Bybit has received praise from the crypto community for its swift and transparent response. Zhou was quick to share the situation and provide a detailed report, while also ensuring customers could withdraw funds normally through a bridge loan. Just on Friday, Bybit also launched a 10% bounty program to garner support from the community.

Community Support and Recovery Efforts

Despite the huge shock of the hack, Bybit has recovered around $43 million of the stolen funds with the help of groups like Mantle, SEAL 911, and mETH. Additionally, an additional $181,000 in USDT has also been recovered. Zhou said that Bybit will continue to expand the Lazarus Bounty program to support other victims in the near future.

Haseeb Qureshi, co-founder of Dragonfly Capital, praised the move, saying that Bybit’s transparency about bounties and good and bad actors is “very crypto-esque” and ground-breaking for the blockchain community.

Lazarus Group and the Money Laundering Attempt

According to analytics firm Elliptic, Lazarus Group has entered the second phase of laundering the stolen funds, which involves “layering” the funds across multiple blockchains like Bitcoin and using anonymizing services like eXch. However, eXch has denied any involvement, saying that its platform does not serve the purpose of money laundering.

Between 2020 and 2023, Lazarus Group is believed to have successfully laundered around $200 million in cryptocurrency, according to blockchain detective ZachXBT. With strong support from the community and investigative agencies, Bybit hopes to recover more stolen funds and restore customer confidence.