Bybit’s Alleged ETH Purchases Fuel Further Price Rally for Ether

Ether Gains 2.3% as Bybit Allocates $100M for OTC ETH Purchases

Ether (ETH) has surged 2.3% in the past 24 hours, outpacing the broader crypto market, where the CoinDesk 20 Index saw a modest 0.76% rise. Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC) remained slightly in the red, slipping 0.3%.

The rally comes amid reports that Bybit, the exchange recently hacked for $1.5 billion in ETH and staked ETH by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, has begun replenishing its reserves. Blockchain data shows Bybit has moved 100 million USDT into new wallets, with approximately half of that being used to acquire 36,900 ETH via over-the-counter (OTC) transactions.

On-chain intelligence platform Arkham Intelligence reported that these funds, valued at roughly $101 million, were later transferred to Bybit-associated addresses. Crypto journalist Colin Wu first highlighted the movements.

During a recent “ask me anything” session, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou assured users of the platform’s strong financial position, stating that the exchange’s assets “far exceed $1.5 billion.” He further revealed that Bybit maintains “a cold wallet in a secure location with nearly $3 billion in USDT.”

Following the attack, the hacker now holds an estimated 489,000 ETH—worth about $1.34 billion—making them the 14th-largest ETH holder worldwide. However, due to exchange blacklisting and monitoring, liquidating the stolen funds will prove extremely difficult.

“The stolen ETH is effectively frozen. Any attempt to send it to a major exchange will trigger immediate intervention,” said StealthEX CEO Maria Carola in a statement to CoinDesk.

As a result, some analysts believe that this 0.4% of ETH’s total supply is functionally removed from circulation, reducing available liquidity and contributing to the asset’s recent price increase.