Bybit has finally released the details of their massive $1.4B hack, and the numbers aren't exactly confidence-inspiring.

Three months after North Korea's Lazarus Group pulled off one of the largest heists in crypto history, most of the money remains unaccounted for.

Tracking 500,000 stolen ETH is about as easy as trying to juggle knives while blindfolded – technically possible, but not exactly a great time.

Unfortunate Figures

Bybit claims that they can still track approximately 68.6% of the stolen funds – that's $960 million still visible on-chain somewhere.

The other 27.6% has disappeared into the crypto equivalent of a black hole after being mixed, bridged, and swapped to oblivion.

Only 3.8% of the funds have been frozen, which is essentially a rounding error when considering $1.4 billion.

Ben Zhou is probably sleeping even less than the average crypto trader during these updates.

The hackers might as well have sent a postcard saying, "Thanks for the ETH, good luck finding it."

How To Launder A Billion Dollars

The Lazarus Group didn't just take the money and run, but essentially executed a laundering masterclass that would make Breaking Bad's Saul Goodman jealous.

Step one was shoving everything through Wasabi and other mixers faster than retail investors dump after a rate hike announcement.

Then they went cross-chain crazy, using THORChain, eXch, Stargate, and every other bridge that hasn't been hacked itself.

They converted 432,748 ETH into 10,003 BTC and distributed it across 35,000 wallets – a classic divide-and-conquer strategy.

Approximately $17 million in ETH remains on Ethereum, spread across 12,500 wallets, much like a digital version of Where's Waldo.

The "Lazarus Bounty" Is Hardly Working

Bybit launched their bounty program, offering up to 10% of recovered funds, which could mean a $140 million payday for successful cyber sleuths.

Over 5,400 people have submitted tips, but only 70 of them have been worth anything at all.

So far, Bybit has paid out $2.3 million in bounties, with the most significant win coming from the Mantle network, which froze $42 million.

Zhou is seeking more skilled analysts who can effectively track funds through mixers, rather than merely submitting random wallet addresses.

It's like they're offering a fortune to find a needle in a haystack, but most people are just sending pictures of hay.

Industry Wakeup Call

This hack is making the Mt. Gox disaster look like amateur hour, highlighting just how sophisticated state-sponsored crypto theft has become.

Tracking assets across multiple chains, mixers, and protocols is proving nearly impossible even for the best blockchain analytics firms.

The broader industry is now scrambling to upgrade security faster than Ethereum devs promise ETH 2.0.

Cross-chain infrastructure might be the future, but right now it's a money launderer's dream playground.

Even the most security-conscious exchanges are looking at their cold wallets with newfound paranoia.

What Happens Now?

Bybit is still cooperating with global investigators while watching their stolen funds disappear at a slow pace.

Some platforms, like eXch, are shutting down straight after being caught in the crossfire of the investigation.

Bybit's security team is getting the most intense performance review in crypto history right now.

The bounty program continues, but the likelihood of recovering most funds diminishes by the day.

North Korea is using your ETH to fund missile programs while exchanges promise it won't happen again – the circle of crypto life continues.

The Hard Truth

Nearly 70% of the stolen funds may still be visible on-chain, but visibility does not guarantee recovery.

Only a tiny fraction has been frozen despite thousands of people trying to claim the sweet bounty rewards.

The hack shows how crypto criminals are evolving faster than exchanges can keep up with their security practices.

The cross-chain future that everyone is excited about comes with massive security tradeoffs that we are only beginning to understand.

If there's one thing this saga teaches us, it's that "not your keys, not your crypto" still hits different in 2025.