Key Points
Bybit has returned a substantial loan of 40,000 Ethereum (ETH) to Bitget.
This loan was given to Bybit by Bitget in the immediate aftermath of a $1.4 billion hack.
Arkham Intelligence data reveals that on Feb. 24, Bitget received the Ethereum from a Bybit cold wallet.
The Ethereum was worth approximately $99.98 million at the time of transfer.
Bitget was among the first exchanges to assist Bybit after it lost around $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum in a major crypto hack.
On-chain data indicates that Bybit initially moved the Ethereum from their hot wallet to a cold wallet, before transferring it to Bitget.
Bybit also transferred 47,800 ETH, valued at $118 million, to their cold wallet prior to the Bitget transfer.
Bybit’s Transactions
Earlier the same day, Bybit transferred 3,000 ETH to Binance from a hot wallet.
This was worth about $7.5 million at the time of the transfer.
At the time of writing, Ethereum’s value has decreased by nearly 9% in the past 24 hours.
Currently, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap is trading at $2,489.
In recent days, Ethereum has been on a downward trend, falling by 7% in the past week and decreasing by over 25% in the past month.
As previously reported, Bybit stated that it has completely covered the $1.4 billion loss in Ethereum tokens resulting from the hack.
Bybit managed to cover the loss through whale deposits, Ethereum purchases, and loans from various exchanges, including Bitget.
On Feb. 22, the day after the hack, Bybit received Ethereum loans worth $172.5 million from different crypto exchanges and firms to cover customer withdrawals.
These loans included 40,000 ETH from Bitget, 12,652 in Lido staked ETH (STETH) from MEXC, and 11,800 ETH from Binance.
As Bybit starts to return these loans, it appears that it is beginning to recover from the loss incurred four days after the incident.
On Feb. 24, the CEO of Bybit announced that the exchange will soon release an audited plan-of-record report to demonstrate that Bybit is “100% 1:1 on client assets.”
Despite the fast recovery, Arkham Intelligence data reveals that the Bybit hacker, believed to be Lazarus Group, has begun to launder the stolen funds.
Wallets associated with the hacker have been making two to three transactions per minute, transferring Ethereum from one address to another.
