Author: 1912212.eth, Foresight News
On February 24, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou updated via post stating, "Bybit has fully compensated for the ETH shortfall, and a new audited Proof of Reserves (POR) report will be released soon, stay tuned."
Previously, the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit experienced a shocking hacker attack, resulting in losses of up to $1.4 billion. According to OnchainLens monitoring, a total of 514,723 native ETH and various derivative ETH were stolen. This is one of the largest amounts lost in a single hacking incident in history, enough to remind anyone following cryptocurrency of past catastrophic precedents—such as the Mt. Gox collapse in 2014, the FTX bankruptcy in 2022, or the $600 million theft from Ronin Network in 2021. The FTX incident even triggered a seismic shock in the industry, leading to the collapse of several related companies, severely impacting many Solana ecosystem protocols, and causing the crypto market to plummet to its lowest point. These events have invariably triggered a crisis of trust in the industry, severe market turbulence, and even prolonged bear markets.
Surprisingly, the theft incident at Bybit did not replay the historical tragedy, and its negative impact on the entire crypto industry was far less than expected. After experiencing a series of withdrawal pressure tests, Bybit finally withstood the pressure, and by February 23, its deposits and withdrawals had fully returned to normal levels.
In just two to three days, Bybit was able to quickly reverse the dire situation. What was the reason?
Open, Rapid, and Transparent Crisis Response
In crisis management, time and transparency are often the keys to success or failure. Just three hours after the theft incident, CEO Ben Zhou published a detailed statement on X, admitting that hackers had breached the platform's ETH cold wallet through a vulnerability, resulting in losses of up to $1.4 billion. He emphasized that customer funds were unaffected, withdrawal channels remained open, and assets outside the cold wallet were safe. Moreover, Ben updated on Twitter that he would soon start a live stream to synchronize the progress of the attack and answer all questions in the live chat, candidly admitting that there was an issue with the multi-signature transfer signatures that had been overlooked.
Faced with a peak of continuous withdrawals, Ben did not choose to immediately suspend withdrawals but instead opted for open transparency, stating that withdrawals would remain normal. By around 1 AM on February 22, the peak of withdrawals had passed, and 70% of the withdrawals had been processed. This news was communicated in real-time to the audience by Ben during the live stream, undoubtedly providing users with peace of mind. By 9 AM that day, Ben again updated on the progress of the incident, stating that 99.99% of withdrawal requests had been processed.
In stark contrast, in the months leading up to the FTX collapse, the truth was concealed, ultimately leading to user withdrawals and complete bankruptcy; Mt. Gox even took years to expose issues after the theft, completely destroying the trust of the early Bitcoin community.
Ben Zhou's rapid and transparent actions on Twitter and in the live stream quickly earned the initial trust of users and the market. Zhou not only disclosed the technical details of the attack (such as the hackers exploiting a multi-signature vulnerability) but also promised to release a complete audit report. This candid attitude effectively curbed the spread of rumors and avoided a vicious cycle of panic withdrawals.
Data shows that within 24 hours of the incident, Bybit's net withdrawal amount was only $700 million, far below its average daily trading volume (approximately $5 billion). Compared to the billions of dollars that flowed out daily during the FTX collapse, this figure is almost negligible.
When One Side is in Trouble, Support Comes from All Directions
If Bybit's response is an internal firewall, then industry collaboration is the best embodiment of an external defense line. Less than 12 hours after the incident, multiple DeFi protocols and blockchain analysis companies quickly took action. Tether, THORChain, ChangeNOW, FixedFloat, Avalanche Ecosystem, CoinEx, Circle, and others helped monitor and freeze funds, with some adding the addresses to blacklists. Chainalysis tracked on-chain to lock down approximately $300 million in ETH that the hackers attempted to transfer, and multiple data tracking platforms provided real-time updates on the status of the stolen funds from Bybit.
Additionally, the exchanges showed remarkable unity. Competitors such as Binance, OKX, Bitget, and Huobi HTX provided technical or financial assistance. On February 22, Binance and Bitget deposited over 50,000 ETH into Bybit's cold wallet.
On February 24, according to Lookonchain monitoring, since the hacking attack, Bybit has obtained approximately 446,870 ETH (about $1.23 billion) through loans, large deposits, and purchases. Bybit is close to compensating for the losses.
Such collaboration was almost unimaginable in the past. Looking back at the $600 million theft from Poly Network in 2021, although the hacker ultimately returned most of the funds, the entire process relied on the hacker's conscience, and the industry lacked an effective collective response mechanism. After the Mt. Gox incident, the Bitcoin community even split into multiple factions, with accusations and infighting exacerbating recovery efforts.
Today, the maturity of the crypto industry is incomparable. The Web3 ecosystem in 2025 not only has more advanced technological tools (such as real-time on-chain monitoring) but has also formed a tighter community of interests. This unity not only limited the hackers' ability to launder funds—by February 23, only about $100 million in ETH had been successfully transferred—but also sent a strong signal to the market: the industry has the capability to self-repair.
This resilience is crucial for investor confidence. Compared to the past, this collective defense capability significantly reduced the systemic risk of the event on the industry.
Increased Market Maturity Leads to More Rational Investor Reactions
The market's reaction is a direct indicator of the impact of an event, and the consequences of this Bybit theft have not reached a "disastrous" level. On the day of the incident, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a host of altcoins did not experience significant declines. In fact, ETH even saw two consecutive daily increases on February 22 and 23 following the Bybit theft incident.
In contrast, after the Mt. Gox theft in 2014, Bitcoin's price plummeted by 50%, and the market took years to recover; the 2022 Ronin Network theft directly led to the near collapse of the Axie Infinity ecosystem.
Why was the market so calm this time? First, investors' psychological expectations regarding hacking incidents have significantly adjusted. Over the past decade, the crypto industry has experienced countless attacks, and hacking incidents have gradually become a normalized risk. Today's market participants—whether retail or institutional—are more rational and mature, tending to assess the specific impact of events rather than blindly sell off. Second, the diversification of market structure has reduced the impact of a single event. The crypto market in 2025 is no longer highly dependent on a few exchanges; even if a leading platform like Bybit is affected, the market still has enough liquidity to buffer the impact.
Financial Strength Itself Buffers the Impact
The risk resistance capability of an exchange platform ultimately depends on its financial foundation, and Bybit has performed excellently in this regard. After the incident, Zhou announced that the platform still had full solvency, customer assets were backed at a 1:1 ratio, and user funds had not been used to cover losses. Additionally, Bybit quickly secured approximately 80% of the losses through bridge loans, with the remaining portion to be covered by its own reserves and insurance.
Bybit's financial preparedness is not coincidental. In recent years, as regulatory pressure has increased and users' focus on security has heightened, large exchanges have generally strengthened risk management. Bybit publicly disclosed its Proof of Reserves in 2024, showing that its asset-liability ratio was far above the industry average. This transparent financial health became a source of reassurance during the crisis. The exchange's funding and profitability levels kept its losses from the hacking incident within a controllable range, and the "affordable" confidence of users reduced withdrawal pressure and avoided further escalation of the trust crisis.
Summary
The reason the Bybit theft incident did not have the devastating impact on the crypto industry as in the past is due to the synergistic effect of multiple factors. Its transparent crisis communication calmed user panic, industry collaboration demonstrated the resilience of the ecosystem, market maturity kept investors rational, and Bybit's financial strength provided a solid buffer. These factors collectively transformed a potential disaster into a manageable challenge.
More importantly, this incident may become a turning point for industry development. It exposed potential vulnerabilities in multi-signature wallets, prompting technological upgrades; it also proved the value of collaboration and transparency, which may drive the introduction of stricter industry standards. The crisis in February 2025 did not replay historical tragedies but instead provided valuable experience for the future development of the crypto industry.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
