Crypto Exchange eXch Denies Laundering Bybit Hack Funds for Lazarus Group

Non-KYC centralized change eXch has denied accusations that it’s laundering funds from the Bybit hack on behalf of the Lazarus Group.

This was in response to social media accusations that it had moved over $30 million from the exploit.

eXch’s Response

In a Feb. 23 announcement posted on the Bitcointalk discussion board, the eXch staff stated it’s “Not laundering cash for Lazarus/DPRK.”

Earlier than the assertion, blockchain investigator ZachXBT had alleged in a February 22 Telegram post that eXch processed $35 million of the stolen funds and mistakenly despatched 34 ETH price $96,000 to a different change’s sizzling pockets.

Different analysts and blockchain safety agency SlowMist additionally reported that eXch obtained ETH from wallets related to the Bybit incident.

Nick Bax, a member of the Safety Alliance white hat hacker group, estimated that the platform dealt with about $30 million for North Korea on that day. SlowMist additional claimed {that a} vital quantity of ETH had been transformed into different cryptocurrencies on eXch.

In response, the change dismissed the accusations as a “focused FUD assault” and clarified that the transaction in query was not linked to them. Nevertheless, the staff acknowledged {that a} small portion of the stolen funds had entered their platform however maintained that it was an remoted case and the one transaction from the incident processed by eXch.

The staff additionally criticized ZachXBT, labeling his statements as unfounded and advising the group to confirm data from credible sources as an alternative of counting on newbie researchers.

CZ’s Answer

The Bybit hack is now the most important crypto theft in historical past, with attackers stealing greater than $1.4 billion after gaining management of the change’s Ethereum multisig chilly pockets. In the meantime, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has advocated for withdrawal pauses following the incident.

In a February 21 post on X, the previous government commented:

“Not a simple state of affairs to take care of. May recommend to halt all withdrawals for a bit as a normal safety precaution. Will present any help if wanted. Good luck!”

Nevertheless, there have been considerations that this resolution would trigger panic. Addressing the criticism, Zhao clarified that his suggestion was primarily based on expertise and supposed to make sure system integrity.

The Binance founder shared an instance from 2019, when his change briefly suspended withdrawals following a $40 million hack, later observing extra deposits than withdrawals as soon as operations resumed.

Nevertheless, he emphasised that each state of affairs required a judgment name and expressed confidence in Bybit CEO Ben Zhou’s handling of the disaster. He additionally counseled his transparency and calm response, contrasting it with the disaster administration approaches of different CEOs, similar to these at WazirX and FTX.