Bybit’s Billion-Dollar Blunder: Safe Wallet Halted Amidst Hack

Oh, dear! The Ethereum multisig wallet Safe has decided to take a little breather and pause certain functionalities. Why, you ask? Well, it seems that the Bybit hack on February 21st has left everyone feeling a tad bit cautious.

“We haven’t found any evidence that our Safe frontend was compromised. But, you know, better safe than sorry! So, Safe{Wallet} is temporarily pausing certain functionalities,” the platform posted on X.

Safe is working hand in hand with the Bybit team to investigate the hack. They’re determined to get to the bottom of this messy situation.

What in the world happened?

On Friday, February 21st, 2025, the crypto exchange Bybit experienced a major hack. Their multisig cold wallet for ETH was drained of over $1.4 billion worth of the token. 😱

A sneaky hacker used a “masked” URL to trick the signers, making them believe it was the correct one from Safe. By changing the contract logic, the hacker was able to take control of Bybit’s ETH cold wallet and drain it dry. 😈

The trick worked like a charm, and the hacker moved all ETH in the wallet to a new address. They have since started transferring the stolen funds to other wallet addresses. 💸

Is this the biggest hack in crypto history?

This heist could very well be one of the most devastating in the history of the crypto world. In the past, the industry has bounced back from hacks affecting Mt. Gox, Coincheck, and FTX. WazirX’s $230 million hack in July 2024 also hit crypto holders in India hard.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou assured everyone in a post on X that the exchange remains solvent and can cover the losses. He also mentioned that withdrawals are still on, probably to reassure the community. 🤞

Industry players, including Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, have pledged support if needed. However, part of the advice given to the exchange is that pausing withdrawals might be a good idea as a standard security precaution. 🤔

“Not an easy situation to deal with. Might suggest to halt all withdrawals for a bit as a standard security precaution. Will provide any assistance if needed. Good luck!” CZ noted.

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2025-02-21 21:33