Thorchain which is a cross-chain Swap protocol saw a mighty surge in usability and revenue generation as Bybit, a centralized exchange saw the biggest misfortune in crypto history where it was hacked and about $1.5 billion was stolen. This heart breaking news on the other end enriched thorchain because the hacker converted the etherum which was stolen into Bitcoin using thorchain and this generated a massive revenue of $2.91B in trading volume and $3M in fee income. This was made known by an on-chain analyst by name Yu-Jin.
Following records and history already had by thorchain before the misfortune that befell Bybit, it was been recorded that thorchain's average daily transaction volume is always situated to be within the range of $80M, but however after they funds was stolen from Bybit, the figure significantly rose from $80M per day to $580M which totalled into $2.91Billion ranging from 22nd day of February till 25th day of February, which is 5 days gap. In addition to this, On the 26th day of February 2025 alone, thorchain processed the highest number of trading volume per day which was averaged $859.61, which is the highest so far since thorchain started it's activity. And on 27th day, $210 was also processed by thorchain and this already has generated $1B in 48hours. This above data was recorded by thorchain explorer
The Plot and Twist
According to reports, it was gathered that this pattern of hacking whereby stolen funds are converted to Bitcoin by the hackers is associated with North Korean hacking group Lazarus. It was gathered that this group is used to converting their stolen funds to Bitcoin and there are guess and traces that they might still be the ones in charge of this present hack which has caused a lot of pandemonium in the crypto space. Regardless of the fact that there are traces of this hack and much more, there are chances that they might or might not the leading group that hacked the exchange but nothing is guaranteed yet unless proven wrong.
Furthermore, I think everything revolves around in the crypto space. It might be that a coin stolen was done from a particular exchange or Blockchain, the fact still remains that to get away or have full access of the funds stolen, it has to pass through another exchange or Blockchain, so everything revolves around. Seeing that this is so, if all the top exchanges and big whales belonging to different exchanges and wallets works hand in hand irrespective of the differences they might have based on modes and methods of operation, they can collectively tighten the security patches in all of their exchanges and Blockchain and make it difficult for hackers even if they hack, they can't have access to what they have stolen because tough security operations and stages will frustrate their will of taking such funds until it is proven it wasn't stolen. For example if an account or address has much more than it has and there is no record of often transactions done which relates to payment making which is true and followed up, such accounts should be frozen and restricted until proven otherwise.
Because of this big misfortune that befell Bybit, a lot of remarks have been made regarding the crypto space and how insecure some wallets and exchanges can be, this has raised a big concern on security issues in the crypto space and also has raised a bar of carefulness on both decentralized and centralized exchanges to tighten their secure patches such that they won't be the next hackers would come for.
Your Security, Your Concern
Because of this huge misfortune that befell Bybit exchange, many crypto users have gone to review and review their security status as touching their wallets and accounts. Yes this is a good move for all crypto enthusiasts because maybe if not because we saw this hack to be a major, many users would have taken their accounts lightly and might be thinking they are safe not knowing they might be prone to attack. The crypto space is always scary, many came to learn, make profits and leave whereas others came to steal and destroy, so it's of great necessity that we are careful out there, there are wolves in sheep clothing and they can attack once they have the chance.
The debate has been there on if it's centralized exchange or decentralized exchange is much more safer to store and keep crypto, whilst it's obvious enough that decentralized exchanges has an upper hand in winning this debate,where they say not my keys, not my account, it all boils down to how we keep our passwords, keys etc safe. Nothing is guaranteed out there, it's just within our reach to either be kept safe or vulnerable to attack, the choice is ours.