Bybit Secures MiCA License While Hackers Still Hold $644M from $1.4B Heist—Because Crypto Never Sleeps

In a plot twist only crypto could deliver, Bybit just nabbed a MiCA license—Europe’s golden ticket for legit crypto ops—while the ghosts of its $1.4B exploit still haunt the blockchain. Hackers are sitting pretty on $644M of that loot, proving once again that decentralization cuts both ways.

Regulatory win, meet unfinished business. The exchange’s compliance victory clashes with the cold reality of unrecovered funds—a reminder that in crypto, even the ’secure’ deals come with asterisks. Traders cheer the license; auditors side-eye the balance sheet.

And let’s be real: nothing says ’modern finance’ like celebrating paperwork while thieves outmaneuver your security team. Stay bullish, folks.

Bybit’s security breach

While the license strengthens Bybit’s position in Europe, the exchange is still grappling with the fallout of a massive February security breach that resulted in $1.4 billion in losses.

According to a dedicated portal launched by the exchange to track the stolen funds, about $644 million, nearly 46% of the stolen assets, remains untraceable.

The investigations revealed that the attackers used advanced obfuscation tools such as Wasabi Wallet, Tornado Cash, Railgun, and CryptoMixer to cover their tracks.

The bulk of the laundered funds, around $247 million, passed through Wasabi Wallet, while $94 million flowed through CryptoMixer.

However, the exchange has said that the remaining $693 million of the stolen funds is traceable and $62.9 million has already been frozen.

In response to the breach, Bybit has awarded $2.3 million bounties to 13 individuals and groups, including blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, BitJungle, and Mantle protocol.