Bybit CEO Ben Zhou says crypto exchanges should assume hacks will happen
In brief
- Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said on October 20 that exchanges must assume attacks will definitely occur.
- Zhou called for multiple layers of protection to contain damage and ensure the business survives.
- Bybit lost about $1.5 billion in ETH in February 2025 and covered the loss from its reserves.
- Bybit says its AI-assisted monitoring has blocked more than $700 million in suspicious transactions.
Treating attacks as a given
Zhou's position, as reported by Crypto Briefing, is that exchanges need protections built specifically to keep customer assets safe. The report doesn't say where he made the remarks.
It's a blunt premise, and for Bybit it comes from experience.
The 2025 breach
On February 21, 2025, Bybit lost approximately $1.5 billion, more than 401,000 ETH, from its Ethereum cold wallet. (A cold wallet is storage kept away from the always-connected systems that handle day-to-day trading.) The breach was a supply-chain attack carried out through compromised Safe{Wallet} infrastructure. The theft has been attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group, and the intrusion has been described as a phishing attack.
That's why supply-chain attacks worry the whole industry. They target shared infrastructure, so a weakness in one widely used tool can expose many platforms at once.
Bybit covered the full loss from corporate reserves. Within 72 hours it processed more than 350,000 withdrawal requests, customers didn't lose funds, and trading and withdrawals kept running for users throughout.
What's changed since
According to Crypto Briefing, Bybit has since rolled out expanded security measures, including enhanced multi-signature wallets and AI-assisted monitoring. Multi-signature wallets require several independent approvals before funds can move. The exchange's AI-assisted monitoring has blocked more than $700 million in suspicious transactions, per the report, which didn't give a timeframe for that figure.
On October 29, Bybit confirmed it was unaffected and told users their assets remained secure. Crypto Briefing linked that statement to reports of security incidents at Binance, but it didn't detail or confirm those reports.
Zhou's argument is that another attack is a given, so the work that matters is keeping the damage contained and the business running.
Frequently asked questions
What happened in the 2025 Bybit hack?
On February 21, 2025, Bybit lost approximately $1.5 billion, more than 401,000 ETH, from its Ethereum cold wallet. The breach was a supply-chain attack carried out through compromised Safe{Wallet} infrastructure. The theft has been attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group.
Did Bybit customers lose money in the 2025 hack?
No. Bybit covered the full $1.5 billion loss from corporate reserves. Within 72 hours it processed more than 350,000 withdrawal requests, and trading and withdrawals kept running for users during that period.
Why are supply-chain attacks a risk for crypto exchanges?
Supply-chain attacks, like the one that hit Bybit, target shared infrastructure. A weakness in one widely used tool can expose many platforms at once.
