The largest crypto theft in history has left investors reeling, with a Bybit hacker successfully laundering over $1.4 billion worth of stolen funds in just 10 days.

Bybit was hacked on February 21, resulting in the theft of liquid-staked Ether (STETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and other ERC-20 tokens, making it the biggest crypto heist to date.

The hacker has since moved all 500,000 stolen Ether (ETH), now valued at approximately $1.04 billion, primarily through the decentralized crosschain protocol THORChain, according to blockchain security firm Lookonchain's March 4 report on X.

Despite being identified as the main culprit behind the attack by multiple blockchain analytics firms, including Arkham Intelligence, North Korea’s Lazarus Group has converted the stolen proceeds.

The news comes over two months after South Korean authorities sanctioned 15 North Koreans for allegedly generating funds for North Korea’s nuclear weapons development program through cryptocurrency heists and cyber theft.

Blockchain security experts are hopeful that a small portion of the stolen funds can be frozen and recovered by Bybit.

"Rapid response is key once funds are deeply obfuscated, recovery becomes significantly harder," said Deddy Lavid, co-founder and CEO of blockchain security firm Cyvers. "The main stolen fund prevention is mainly before or during the hack."

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed that about 77% of the funds were traceable, but over $280 million of the stolen funds "has gone dark," while 3% of the funds have been frozen.

Bybit has continued to honor customer withdrawals and had fully replaced the stolen $1.4 billion in Ether by February 24, just three days after the attack.

Crypto security firms like Cyvers are working on pre-emptive measures to combat future attacks.

An emerging solution, known as offchain transaction validation, could prevent 99% of all crypto hacks and scams by preemptively simulating and validating blockchain transactions in an offchain environment, according to Michael Pearl, vice president of GTM strategy at Cyvers.

The Bybit hack serves as a stark reminder of the need for robust security measures in the cryptocurrency space.

As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, it is essential for investors and users to stay vigilant and up-to-date on the latest developments and security protocols.