The cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has fallen victim to an attack resulting in the theft of digital assets valued at $1.5 billion. Experts estimate this to be the largest theft in the history of this sector.

After FTX collapsed, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou told Bloomberg, “...we saw the opportunity.” Someone else saw an opportunity also, transferring nearly $1.5 billion in crypto out of a cold wallet. According to crypto researcher ZachXBT,

Hackers stole about $1.5bn in crypto tokens from Bybit, in a heist the digital asset exchange described as the biggest theft to hit the industry. Ethereum coins were been taken from Bybit’s offline or “cold” wallet, the exchange’s chief executive Ben Zhou said in a post on X.

Bybit is a well-known cryptocurrency exchange with more than 60 million users. It’s regularly ranked among the top five cryptocurrency exchanges online by volume. The hack was disclosed on Feb. 21. The company said an attacker gained control of an Ethereum wallet and transferred the holdings in the wallet to an unknown address.