Bybit wins injunction to freeze crypto linked to North Korea hack

Bybit is doing something most companies would consider futile: suing North Korea. And so far, it’s actually working. A federal judge in the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction freezing crypto assets in wallets linked to the February 2025 Bybit hack, in which North Korean state-sponsored hackers allegedly made off with approximately $1.5B in Ethereum. The civil lawsuit, filed on August 7, 2026, names the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, its intelligence arm the Reconnaissance General Bureau, and the infamous Lazarus Group as defendants. The largest crypto heist gets its day in court The hack itself dates back to February 21, 2025, when attackers exploited a supply-chain vulnerability in Safe{Wallet} multisig software used by Bybit. The result was the single largest theft from a crypto exchange ever recorded. Within days, the FBI attributed the attack to North Korean actors, linking it to a broader pattern of DPRK-sponsored cyber operations. According to Chainalysis, North Korean hackers have stolen a cumulative $6.75B in cryptocurrency assets across multiple campaigns over the years. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has framed the lawsuit as part of a multi-pronged recover...