Beosin Trace monitoring issued a recent update revealing that the Bybit exploiter—responsible for a huge security breach and lots of stolen assets—hasn’t stopped its operations.
If anything, it’s still persistently and systematically pouring stolen on-chain assets into various laundering channels. And despite all the tracking and containment efforts, the value of those assets keeps on increasing—pretty steadily, in fact. As of today, the total we know stolen and involving the Bybit exploiter has shot up to over 400,000 ETH. That is a huge sum. If you’re wondering how various channels doing by various laundering methods have managed to do that, we’ve got an answer for you—coming up next.
A Breakdown of the Laundering Activities
As reported by Beosin Trace, the Bybit exploiter has taken part in a grand total of 11,578 on-chain transactions. Each of these has seen to the transferring of sums greater than 1 ETH, making this particular operation all the more visible across the blockchain network. Incidentally, these activities—part of what is likely a money-laundering operation—have served to move the exploitable funds into different addresses and across a variety of platforms. That has certainly made it easier for the exploiter to serve up the original assets on a platter of the great obscurity of blockchain transactions.
The laundering operation mainly takes place on the Ethereum blockchain, with the stolen funds passing through a number of decentralized and centralized platforms. This manner of moving the funds hints at the possibility that sophisticated tools and techniques are being used to conceal the true nature of the transactions. Meanwhile, as more funds are laundered, the operation’s scale has grown, making things even harder for the good guys to track and freeze the stolen assets.
Beosin’s KYT (Know Your Transaction) service has been indispensable in pinpointing and labeling the dubious addresses linked to the laundering undertakings. So far, Beosin has done the important work of risk tagging 4,972 blacklisted addresses on the Ethereum chain. We should emphasize that tagging these addresses is a big deal because these funds under tag are now kept under continuous watch. That watch is simply an elbow bump away from Beosin giving those shady operations the side eye in proximity to any address still using Ethereum for anything other than legitimate purposes.
According to Beosin Trace monitoring,#Bybit Exploiter is still conducting systematic fund laundering operations.
Here are some details:— Beosin Alert (@BeosinAlert) February 26, 2025
Monitoring the Dormant Addresses
The operation’s most concerning aspect is the presence of 160 dormant addresses, each holding over 1 ETH. These addresses, which have not been active for a long time, now stand for a large part of the stolen funds. Because these addresses are so dormant, it is difficult to identify them as part of the laundering operation. However, Beosin Trace, the tracing company for this operation, continues to monitor these addresses. Beosin is also attempting to determine the next steps of the operation by analyzing the potential future movements of the funds.
Ongoing monitoring efforts at Beosin Trace keep an eye on around 368,507 ETH connected to the addresses that have been flagged. This encompasses all the addresses, both active and dormant, that are identified with the Bybit exploiter. Beosin’s intention here seems to be to trace the illicit funds to their next destination and cut them off from potential uses like exchanges and other illegal activities, all in a bid to prevent any further unlawful use of the assets.
The Role of Beosin’s KYT System
Beosin’s KYT system has emerged as a necessary tool in the fight against crypto crime, offering real-time transaction monitoring and risk tagging of suspicious addresses. The KYT system allows Beosin to identify suspicious behavior in the crypto space at an early stage and take necessary and appropriate actions to prevent the further laundering of stolen funds. By tagging these addresses, Beosin creates an incredible database of shady addresses, which is invaluable in helping investigators and authorities track and recover stolen assets.
In addition, the tagging process allows Beosin to offer exhaustive reports to exchanges, regulators, and law enforcement agencies so that they can act quickly. These reports enable a deep collaboration between Beosin and its many stakeholders, and that deep collaboration helps ensure that money flowing through the crypto ecosystem is clean and that everyone involved is playing by the rules.
Ongoing Efforts to Freeze Stolen Funds
Even though the laundering operation is on a large scale, attempts to freeze the stolen assets are ramping up. Beosin Trace continues to do the hard work of monitoring and tagging addresses associated with the exploiter’s activities. But the operation’s size and complexity mean that this is not a short-term effort. So is the vigilance of the broader crypto community. We must maintain a close watch on the situation as it shifts and new criminal tactics are developed to misdirect attention and obscure activities.
Beosin Trace has not yet disclosed the identities of the people responsible for the Bybit exploit. However, the organization’s scale suggests that the operation was carried out by a well-organized and professional group of individuals—perhaps working as a team and possibly located in a specific geography—who are good at hiding and who trained for a long time to get good at what they do. And the group appears to be good at what it does.
Conclusion: A Growing Challenge for Crypto Security
Bybit exploiter’s operation highlights a situation that’s getting worse for the industry.
Fund laundering is not new; what’s happening here is what’s happening with most stolen crypto in the wild. We simply have no way to monitor what’s going on because the crypto industry is largely unregulated and what’s happening in that space is very opaque. That’s a problem for us, a problem for the industry, and a problem for national security.
While Beosin Trace watches where the money goes, the Make-A-Wish Foundation does something similar. It does not have the kinds of powers that Beosin does, tracing on-chain to ensure that funds really do go where they’re supposed to. But it is sort of a collaborative association of very smart folks in law enforcement who do know how to track money. Not every wish is granted; in fact, Beosin’s KYT team might be more successful in tracking down bad guys.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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