Lazarus Group Hacks Bybit for $1.4B

Week Ending February 22, 2025

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Welcome to our weekly newsletter summarising the most significant events in the cryptocurrency and finance industry over the past week. Stay informed and up to date with the latest developments.

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Here are the top stories from the past week:

Top Stories: ??Lazarus Group Hacks Bybit for $1.4B _________________________________________________________

Biggest Crypto Hack: On Feb 21, 2025, hackers stole ~$1.4 billion in Ether from Bybit, marking the largest crypto theft to date. Researchers at ZachXBT and others point to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, notorious for the $600 million Ronin Bridge hack in March 2022, as the likely culprits behind this massive heist.

Evidence Points to Lazarus: Crypto sleuth ZachXBT uncovered evidence linking the hack to Lazarus, including test transactions and wallet connections. “Partial recovery is only 15-30% likely,” he posted on X on Feb 22, 2025, adding that laundering $1.46 billion in Ether is a huge challenge due to blockchain tracking tools.

North Korea’s Crypto Gains: If confirmed, North Korea’s Ether stash could exceed Vitalik Buterin’s, with over $3 billion stolen since 2017, per UN reports. These funds fuel their nuclear program. Readers should stay vigilant and secure their crypto assets against such state-sponsored threats, experts urge. Read More.

?? Hayden Davis & Libra Scandal Deepens

Davis Admits Sniping Libra: Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures, admitted his team sniped Libra’s launch, controlling wallets holding over $100M. He claimed this was done to "protect" the project from other snipers, but critics say it was a coordinated insider move. Libra launched after Argentina’s President Javier Milei promoted it, sending the token's valuation to billions before crashing in hours when Milei distanced himself. In a Coffeezilla interview, Davis defended insider sniping as common practice in memecoins, revealing that crypto influencers had early access before the public.

Ben Chow Resigns After Market Manipulation Claims: Meteora co-founder Ben Chow has resigned following allegations of market manipulation involving Libra and Melania tokens. Moty, founder of DefiTuna, accused Chow of enabling a network of influencers to profit before launches, particularly through the M3M3 platform. Screenshots suggest that millions were siphoned from retail investors, with Davis and his team deciding when to dump tokens. Moty alleged that attempts to establish neutral liquidity for Libra were ignored, and insiders deliberately controlled trading volume to maximize extractions at the expense of regular investors.

Fraud Complaints Filed Against President Milei: Following the scandal, Argentine lawyers have filed fraud complaints against President Milei, questioning his indirect involvement in Libra. While Davis insists he was only a “facilitator” of the project, Coffeezilla labelled him one of Libra’s "big four" creators. The investigation also connects Davis to the Melania token launch, where insiders were given early access to 1% of the supply, worth $100M at peak, before it was anonymously dumped. As authorities and the crypto community demand accountability, the full extent of this market manipulation is still unfolding. Read More.

??FTX Begins $1.2B Repayments

Small Claims Paid First: On Feb 18, 2025, FTX began repaying $1.2B to 162K users with claims under $50K, part of its bankruptcy recovery. "An incredible milestone," said John J. Ray III, the plan administrator. This first wave reaches the most affected customers hit by the collapse of the crypto exchange in 2022.

Big Recovery Plan: FTX’s $16B bankruptcy plan, approved by a Delaware judge in Oct 2024, two years after its 2022 filing, promises 98% of creditors 118% of their claims in cash. Sunil Kavuri, representing the largest creditor group, criticized it, saying, "Crypto should be paid in kind, not dollar values from 2022."

Future Payments Planned: Claims over $50K start Apr 11, 2025, with payouts by May 30, alongside a $1.9B Solana unlock on Mar 1. Tokenomist warns, "Expect volatility from this scale of unlock." Stay updated via FTX’s site for your funds, as the estate continues staged distributions into Q2 2025. Read More.

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On this Week's?Top Picks

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? US SEC closes investigation into OpenSea.

?? Kaito launches $KAITO airdrop claim.

?? ~$927B wiped from the US stock market.

?? Apple pulls end-to-end encryption feature in the UK.

?? Digital Assets saw $415M of outflows last week.

?? Linea identifies 3.5k false positives in a review of Sybil's appeals.

??? OpenSea pauses XP for listing & bidding following feedback.

?? Strategy $MSTR to raise $2B to buy more Bitcoin $BTC.

??? Blockaid raises $50M in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital.

?? ALPHA

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Movement Labs Co-founder posts "loading…" on X; to potentially launch public mainnet soon.

Linea Association posts "While we initially targeted a launch in Q1, technical and design work, including with our community, is ongoing..." on X; TGE to potentially be delayed.

Zora launches a new feature making posts instantly tradable coins; each post is a coin with a supply of 1B, creators automatically receive 10M coins, & also receive 1% of every trade.

Lens launches proposal to include Lens Chain to zkSync's Elastic Network; "Lens Chain’s road to mainnet begins today."

Namada launches Phase 3 governance proposal; to go live on February 24th if approved; to enable $NAM transferability in Phase 5.

Espresso announces the Espresso Foundation; to launch $ESP TGE in Q2 2025.

Hyperliquid $HYPE launches HyperEVM mainnet; describes the launch as "bringing general-purpose programmability" to the network.

Monad launches testnet; claim testnet $MON & explore the Monad ecosystem.

OpenSea pauses XP for listing & bidding following community feedback; the rewards program to focus on XP shipments in the meantime.

Reddio posts "Heads up, something BIG is on the way!" on X; to potentially launch mainnet soon.

DeBank launches Berachain $BERA Airdrop Hunter Web3 Badge; users who received the Berachain BERA airdrop are eligible to mint.

Kaito snapshots $KAITO Yaps was on February 17th at 0400 AM UTC; to snapshot Kaito Genesis NFTs on February 18th at 0400 AM UTC.

Monad to launch testnet on February 19th; mainnet to potentially launch in Q2 2025.

Mint launches $MINT NFT Legends Box unboxing; ends on February 28th.

DeBank launches 365 VIP Active Days Web3 Badge; users with 365 VIP active days are eligible to mint.

? AIRDROP

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Weekly Airdrop Recap by Earndrop.

Triad Airdrop Strategy.

Linea completes a review of Sybil appeals; and identifies 3.5k false positives which have been removed from the Sybil list.

Skate introduces $SKATE; 12% of the supply is allocated for initial community distribution; 1% is allocated for Kaito yappers.

Trump memecoin to launch $TRUMP airdrop; official Trump product purchasers are eligible.

Paradex Airdrop Strategy.

Binance launches $KAITO HODLer Airdrop; BNB Simple Earn products subscribers from February 6th to February 10th are eligible.

Caldera unveils $ERA; to launch airdrop soon; tokenomics, token utility, initial supply distribution, and more also coming soon.

Weekly Airdrop Recap.

Paradex Airdrop Strategy and Triad Airdrop Strategy

Kernel to launch $KERNEL season 1 airdrop soon; 10% of KERNEL supply allocated to season 1 airdrop.

Rivalz Network launches $RIZ airdrop claim; Rivalz points holders & testnet users are eligible.

?? CRYPTO UPDATES

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Bybit hacked for ~$1.4B of Ethereum $ETH by North Korea's Lazarus Group; Bybit Co-founder & CEO posts "...assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss".

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried seeks pardon in recent interview; attempts to align himself with President Trump.

Kanye West (Ye) reportedly plans to launch a $YZY memecoin; designed to help Ye side-step platforms that have cut ties with him.

Franklin Templeton submits S-1 filing for spot Solana $SOL ETF to the US SEC; SEC recently acknowledged spot Solana ETF filings from 21Shares, Bitwise, Canary, & VanEck.

US SEC to dismiss enforcement case against Coinbase $COIN; SEC to vote on dismissal next week; US SEC sued Coinbase in June 2023 alleging it violated US securities laws.

US SEC closes investigation into OpenSea; OpenSea Co-founder & CEO posts "Trying to classify NFTs as securities would have been a step backwards—one that misinterprets the law and slows innovation" on X.

US SEC dismisses its appeal in case to push 'dealer rule' on crypto; rule sought to require crypto liquidity providers with over $50M in capital to comply with securities regulations.

Bybit makes all liquidation data fully accessible to the public; no other crypto exchange provides all liquidation data publicly available.

Hayden Davis, Kelsier Ventures CEO, and Ben Chow, Meteora Co-founder, gain attention due to their involvement in $LIBRA; Argentine lawyers file fraud complaints against President Javier Milei.

Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) dismisses rumors that Binance is for sale; and says Binance could sell a minority stake in the company over time in the single-digit percentage range.

Anonymous user burns ~$1.6M of Ethereum $ETH and donates ~$1.9M of ETH to WikiLeaks; leaves cryptic messages about mind control and militarized “nano-brain-computer chips".

Digital Asset Investment Products saw $415M of outflows last week; following a 19-week inflow streak of $29.4B.

Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands, & Hong Kong Telecommunications formed a joint venture to launch Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin; to apply for a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Binance is to delist AirDAO $AMB, CLV $CLV, StormX $STMX, and VITE $VITE on February 24th; they no longer meet standard and industry requirements.

FTX begins paying creditors with claims of less than $50K; the next distribution date is set for May 30th for claims over $50K.

Ethereum Foundation $ETH launched the Open Intents Framework, a framework to standardize intents transactions; Hyperlane and Bootnode co-led the creation.

Geth Ethereum Client $ETH urges validators to update to version 1.15.2 to avoid potential financial losses; version 1.15.1 has a regression that could cause block creation failures.

US SEC acknowledges 21Shares filing to allow staking for its spot Ethereum $ETH ETF; a similar Grayscale filing has yet to be acknowledged.

Pumpfun deposits 65,122 Solana $SOL worth ~$11M into Kraken; deposited a total of 1,235,043 SOL worth ~$247M into Kraken in 2025.

US SEC acknowledges spot $XRP ETF filings from Canary Capital, CoinShares, & Bitwise; also acknowledges CoinShares Litecoin $LTC ETF filing.

BinanceUS to restore USD services over the coming days; paused fiat services in June 2023 after the US SEC sued them.

Nigeria sues Binance for $79.5B in economic damages and $2B in unpaid taxes; Binance working with Nigeria FIRS to address potential historic tax liabilities.

?? FINANCIAL UPDATES

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~$927B was wiped from the US stock market last week; worst day of 2025.

EU Central Bank to create a blockchain-based payment system; plans a two-stage approach by first developing a system linked to its existing Target settlement system, then a more integrated & long-term solution.

MetaPlanet $3350.T buys 68.59 Bitcoin $BTC for ~$6.6M at ~$96,335 per BTC; now holds 2,100 BTC worth ~$200M.

Core Scientific $CORZ leases an Alabama data center for high-performance computing expansion; to exercise the option to acquire the site and make a total capital investment of ~$400M.

CalSTRS Pension Fund reports $83M of Strategy $MSTR holdings; holds 258,785 MSTR shares as of December 31st, 2024.?

MetaPlanet $3350.T buys 269.43 Bitcoin $BTC worth ~$26M, holds 2,031.41 BTC worth ~$194M.

Blockchain[.]com takes steps toward potential initial public offering; appoints Justin Evans as CFO and Mike Wilcox as COO.

Tether signs Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Guinea; aims to "explore blockchain and peer-to-peer technologies, the possibility of driving economic growth..."

S&P 500 $SPX closes at a new ATH of $6,144.15; up 4.46% year-to-date. ?

Strategy $MSTR to raise $2B through convertible note offering; to use proceeds for general corporate purposes, including buying more Bitcoin $BTC.

Robinhood $HOOD to launch cryptocurrency services in Singapore by late 2025; to rely on recently acquired Bitstamp to provide services.

MARA Holdings $MARA buys Texas wind farm for an undisclosed amount; adds 240 MW of interconnection capacity and 114 MW of operational wind generation.

Tether offers to buy a majority stake in Adecoagro SA, a South American agricultural and energy company, for ~$385M; Adecoagro board engaged financial and legal advisors to discuss the offer.

Fold $FLD debuts on the Nasdaq; went public via SPAC merger with FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp; holds 1K Bitcoin $BTC worth ~$96M.

OpenAI considers giving the board special voting rights to fend off takeover attempts; rights would allow the board to overrule major investors in the company.

X is in talks to raise money at a $44B valuation; talks for the new financing round are ongoing and details could change.

?? SECURITY INCIDENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

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Jupiter users targeted in phishing campaign; fake "Jupiter Exchange exploit" ads urge users to paste malicious code into browser consoles, leading to wallet drain.

Cardex was exploited for ~$400K due to a compromised session key; users were advised to regularly revoke approvals and permissions for apps and tokens in their Abstract wallet.

FrigidStealer malware targets macOS users outside North America via fake browser updates; and steals sensitive data from web browsers, cryptocurrency-related apps, and more.

ZachXBT claims Arkham Intel Bounty for Bybit hack; submitted definitive proof that Lazarus Group hacked Bybit.

Safe $SAFE temporarily pauses certain functionalities on the official Safe frontend out of precaution following the Bybit hack; Safe’s security team is working with Bybit on the ongoing investigation.

US SEC launches Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU); to combat cyber and crypto-related fraud.

Apple pulls iCloud's end-to-end encryption feature in the UK; the decision follows a secret order from the UK government demanding Apple create a backdoor.

Revoke[.]cash adds support for Story and Unichain mainnet.

South Korea blocks the DeepSeek app from local app stores; South Korea PIPC says it will be available again once it complies with Korean privacy laws and makes necessary changes.

Google Chrome updates the Enhanced Protection feature?with "Real-time, AI-powered protection"; unclear how the feature is different from an older version.

TOKEN UNLOCKS

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AltLayer $ALT / ~$11M / FEB 25th

Optimism $OP / ~$34M / FEB 28th

?? FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS

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WalletConnect raises $10M in Community & Private funding.

Primus Labs raises $6.5M in Pre-Seed & Seed funding led by Dispersion Capital, Symbolic Capital, & VanEck.

Acre raises $4M in strategic funding from Draper Dragon, Big Brain Holdings, & Orange DAO.

Kinto raises $3.84M in Community funding.

Mansa raises $3M in Pre-Seed funding led by Tether & Polymorphic Capital.

AMMO raises $2.5M in funding led by Amber Group.

Research Hub raises $2M in funding from Boost VC.

Infinity Ground raises $2M in Seed funding from several investors.

=nil; raises $600K in Community funding for Legion.

DEXX raises an undisclosed amount in Strategic funding from Gate[.]io,

Blockaid raises $50M in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital.

Cygnus raises $20M in Pre-Seed funding from several investors.

Altius raises $11M in Pre-Seed funding led by Founders Fund & Pantera Capital.

Universal raises $9M in funding led by a16z Crypto.

Fluent raises $8M in funding led by Polychain Capital.

Yield Basis raises $5M in funding.

Maestro raises $3M in Seed funding led by Wave Digital Assets & Draper Associates.

Fomo raises $2M in Pre-Seed funding from several investors.

Mu Digital raises $600K in Community funding for Echo.

Hedgemony raises an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding from several investors.

Bluefin raises an undisclosed amount in funding from Beam.

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That's all for this week's Digital Discovery Newsletter! We've covered many topics, from major industry developments to the latest in DeFi, security, funding, alpha, airdrop and upcoming events. Join us next week for another edition.

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Stay informed, stay crypto-savvy!

The Digital Discovery Team