Inside the biggest heist
Crypto exchange ByBit got hacked for $1.5 billion — making it potentially the biggest heist of all time.
a16z crypto security expert Matt Gleason joins web3 with a16z host Robert Hackett to discuss how the attack went down, the state of crypto security, and what you can do to help protect yourself from similar attacks.
Welcome to web3 with a16z. I’m Robert Hackett and today we’re talking about what is potentially the biggest heist of all time — a hack of the Dubai-based crypto exchange ByBit which took place last month for a total of $1.5 billion and which the Federal Bureau of Investigation has attributed to a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group.
In this episode, we cover details of how the attack went down, the state of crypto security across different types of wallets and organizations, and what you can do to help protect yourself from similar attacks.
We’re joined by Matt Gleason, a security expert at a16z crypto, whose excellent write-up of the incident you can find below. We’ve also included an FBI PSA about the hack and other useful links as well.
Resources:
- Breaking down the ByBit hack: Lessons to learn from crypto’s largest heist [a16z crypto; March 2025]
- North Korea responsible for $1.5 billion ByBit hack [FBI; February 2025]
- Learn THIS so you don’t lose $50M | Multi-sig (Safe) Hardware Wallet Verification [Patrick Collins on YouTube; January 2025]
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