Bybit CEO Ben Zhou Expresses Gratitude to a United Crypto Industry for Blocking Lazarus Group Hackers

Crypto exchange Bybit has applauded Solana Foundation chairman Lily Liu and memecoin deployer Pump.fun for blocking tokens tied to the Bybit hackers.

Hackers Attempt Laundering Funds Through Pump.fun

Following the massive hack on Bybit, where North Korean hackers, known as the Lazarus Group, made away with close to $1.46 billion in digital assets on Friday, the gang has attempted to launder the funds through meme coin deployment on the Solana chain.

According to reports, the hackers moved the funds from the address “0x3639,” which bridged the tokens to SOL. After multiple transfers, attempting to cover their tracks, the address finally split about 106,000 USDC among ten Solana wallets and began meme coin deployment.

One of the addresses, “5STkQy,” moved 60 SOL to the Solana wallet “9Gu8v6” and created a token QinShihuang (500000) on Wednesday. A report shows the asset traded over $26 million before the Pump.fun team swung into action and blocked the token.

At press time, the address “9Gu8v6” holds 80.55 SOL (around $13,000). The Pump.fun team has also removed all tokens deployed by the address.

Solana Foundation Chairman, Memecoin Deployer Applauded for Blocking Bybit Hacker Tokens

In an X post on Thursday, Bybit’s official handle applauded Solana Foundation chairman Lily Liu and the Pump.fun team for their efforts in preventing the hackers from laundering money through the protocol.

The exchange lauded the move, noting it was an instance of proactive security measures, adding that the crypto industry strength lies in unity.

Bybit is overwhelmed by all the support that we got from partners and industry friends during last night critical time. Here I want to say thanks to all the friends, partners who offered or helped us in any way or form. I am truly grateful. We will need a lot more help down the…

— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) February 22,2025

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou Expressed Gratitude to Crypto Industry for Support During Hack

Meanwhile, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou expressed his gratitude to the crypto industry for rallying around the exchange during the trying times. He stated that the support showed strength in unity, asserting that the sector can only grow bigger from here.

His post mentioned notable crypto exchanges like Bitget, MEXC, and Pionex. The CEO also applauded other firms like Tether, Solana, Ton Network, and SosoValue.

Bybit is overwhelmed by all the support that we got from partners and industry friends during last night critical time. Here I want to say thanks to all the friends, partners who offered or helped us in any way or form. I am truly grateful. We will need a lot more help down the…

— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) February 22, 2025

Moreover, Zhou disclosed that the massive support has seen Bybit refill its Ethereum stash. He revealed on Wednesday that the exchange had replaced the $1.46 billion worth of Ether hacked on Friday, and clients’ assets are now 100% backed 1:1.

This came from OTC purchases, whale wallet supports, and exchange loans. For context, on Saturday, Bybit received over 88,000 ETH ($239 million) from Bitget and Binance as liquidity support to cushion the growing withdrawal requests at the time.

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