Bybit Announces $140 Million Bounty to Recover Stolen Funds

Bybit has unveiled a $140 million bounty program as part of its efforts to trace and potentially recover $1.4 billion in stolen funds.

This initiative comes alongside the recent recovery of over $43 million worth of cmETH and USDT linked to the incident.

Bybit Engages Ethical Hackers in $140 Million Bounty Initiative

On February 22, Bybit announced a bounty program aimed at engaging ethical hackers and cybersecurity specialists to help recover the stolen assets.

Bybit has pledged up to 10% of the recovered funds as a reward. If the full amount is retrieved, contributors could receive as much as $140 million.

The exchange will distribute the bounty among individuals who provide valuable intelligence or play a direct role in asset recovery.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou highlighted the strong response from the crypto community. He noted that industry experts and organizations have already stepped forward to assist.

He emphasized the importance of collaboration in countering cyber threats and reaffirmed Bybit’s commitment to strengthening its security infrastructure.

“We want to officially reward our community who lent us their expertise, experience and support through the Recovery Bounty Program, and our efforts to make this difficult lesson a valuable one does not stop here. Bybit is determined to rise above the setback and fundamentally transform our security infrastructure, improve liquidity, and be a steadfast partner to our friends in the crypto community,” he added.

Over $43 Million in Stolen Funds Recovered

Alongside the bounty announcement, efforts to reclaim lost assets have already yielded results. More than $43 million worth of digital assets has been secured, with key industry players stepping in to prevent further losses.

Mudit Gupta, Chief Information Security Officer at Polygon, confirmed the recovery of 15,000 Mantle Restaked Ethereum (cmETH), worth approximately $43 million. He stated that the retrieval was made possible through a collaboration with the SEAL and Mantle teams.

Gupta explained that they identified a security gap within the protocol, which enabled them to recover the assets.

“I saw the recovery possibility soon after the hack and SEAL connected me with Mantle/mETH team who made it happen. Huge shoutout to SEAL, Mantle, and mETH teams for their quick action,” Gupta stated.

In a separate statement, the Mantle team confirmed that it blocked the exploiter’s address using the protocol’s eight-hour withdrawal delay. This measure prevented further unauthorized transactions and secured the stolen funds.

Additionally, stablecoin issuer Tether froze $181,000 in USDT linked to the hack. While the amount is relatively small, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stressed the significance of industry cooperation in limiting financial losses.

“We just froze 181,000 USDt connected to the ByBit hack. Might not be much but it’s honest work. We keep monitoring,” Ardoino said.

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