Major cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit hacked to the tune of $1.5 billion in digital assets

Here's how the attack transpired and who might be responsible.

Major cryptocurrency exchange Bybit was hacked over the weekend, losing an estimated $1.5 billion in digital assets in what's thought to be the largest cryptocurrency heist in history.

Here's how the attack transpired and who might be the culprit.

What happened in the Bybit hack?

The hack occurred as the Dubai-based crypto platform was making a routine transfer of Ethereum from an offline "cold" wallet to a "warm" wallet.

A hacker exploited security controls and was able to manipulate the transaction to siphon the assets off to an unknown address.

Here's the initial statement that was released by Bybit:

The transaction was manipulated by a sophisticated attack that altered the smart contract logic and masked the signing interface, enabling the attacker to gain control of the ETH Cold Wallet.

In other words, the hackers manipulated the front-end interface to display a legitimate transaction while signing a different, malicious transaction behind the scenes.

The price of Ethereum dropped by nearly 4 per cent following news of the hack, but has since almost returned to previous levels.

How much money was stolen in the Bybit hack?

The company estimates almost $US1.5 billion ($2.4 billion) worth of tokens were stolen during the驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号惊叹号驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆號驚嘆