Bybit seeks community help as $400 million in stolen Ethereum vanishes through Wasabi mixer

The amount of stolen funds from the Bybit hack that have slipped out of reach continues to rise as the days go by.

On April 21, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou revealed that around $400 million, around 27.6% of the $1.4 billion in stolen Ethereum, can no longer be traced.

This represents a sharp increase from March, when only 7.59% of the missing assets were untraceable.

Crypto mixers fuel fund disappearance

Zhou explained that the surge in untraceable funds stems from using crypto mixers and decentralized cross-chain services. While these tools are designed to enhance privacy, the attackers increasingly rely on them to conceal their nefarious activities.

According to him, Wasabi Mixer, a service known for its anonymity features, was used to launder 944 BTC, worth over $90 million. Meanwhile, Thorchain, a decentralized cross-chain platform, facilitated the swap of 531 BTC (equivalent to 18,206 ETH) into Ethereum.

After passing through Wasabi, smaller amounts of the crypto were funneled through other privacy-focused platforms, including CryptoMixer, Tornado Cash, and Railgun. The assets were then moved across various crypto platforms like eXch, Lombard, LiFi, Stargate, and SunSwap.

Zhou explained that these platforms enabled the attackers to shift assets across multiple blockchains before converting them into fiat via peer-to-peer and over-the-counter exchanges.

Blockchain security firm Bitrace confirmed that:

“[The Bybit] hackers are dumping stolen funds through OTC channels. Our customers in multiple countries or regions have reported relevant cases to us.”

Over $960 million remains traceable

Despite the growing portion of untraceable funds, Bybit maintains that most stolen assets remain visible on-chain.

Zhou stated that 68.57% of the stolen Ethereum can still be tracked, while only 3.84% of the funds have been frozen.

The Bybit CEO pointed out that roughly 343,000 ETH (worth over $960 million) have been converted into about 10,000 BTC and scattered across nearly 36,000 wallets. Another 5,991 ETH, about 1.2% of the total, remains in Ethereum wallets spread across more than 12,000 addresses.

Considering this, Zhou urged the crypto community to cooperate with the firm to trace the stolen funds.

He said:

“We welcome more reports, we need more bounty hunters that can decode mixers as we need a lot of help there down the road.”

Within two months, the exchange has received 5,443 bounty submissions from on-chain sleuths. Of these, 70 have been verified, and 12 contributors have been rewarded $2.3 million.