This $1.5 billion hack is exposing just how ‘irreversible’ stolen crypto really is

Bybit sued North Korea, its Reconnaissance General Bureau, and Lazarus Group in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The exchange won a preliminary injunction blocking unnamed defendants from moving or selling stolen crypto.

Public court reporting describes the order as covering those identified assets, without confirming the full $1.5 billion stolen in February 2025 or disclosing the dollar value the injunction protects.

This injunction landed roughly 532 days after the hack—about 17 months after North Korean hackers pulled off the largest crypto theft on record. Chainalysis tracked a consistent laundering pattern by DPRK-linked groups after a major theft, moving stolen funds through exchanges, bridges, mixers, and laundering services over roughly 45 days.

Coordinated action by industry partners froze $42.9 million in the first days after the theft, and mETH Protocol recovered another 15,000 cmETH, worth nearly $43 million. Combined, that early save came to about $85.9 million, roughly 5.9% of the $1.46 billion stolen.

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