Following last week’s Bybit hack, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin pointed out that many people lose significant amounts of cryptocurrency due to loss rather than theft, but often avoid discussing it due to software flaws.
Reminder: there’s also plenty of people who have lost huge amounts of crypto to *loss* rather than theft.
Software bug, forgotten password, lost device, paper wallet burned down in LA fire, upgraded device without backing up data …. lots of ways for that to happen.
Because…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 28, 2025
In an X post, Vitalik Buterin stated that many people have lost a lot of cryptocurrency due to loss rather than theft due to software vulnerabilities, forgotten passwords, lost devices, or upgrading devices without backing up data. He added, “Because there’s no attacker to go after, victims don’t have a strong need to talk about it.”
He emphasized that developers must take loss scenarios into account when building strong wallet security solutions within the crypto ecosystem. “This is also a big reason why I emphasize social recovery so much,” he explained.
Vitalik’s comments follow the release of a forensic report by Safe{Wallet} regarding the recent Bybit hack, attributed to the North Korean Lazarus Group. The report had faced skepticism from former Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao.
According to Safe’s findings, the hacker targeted a Safe developer’s machine, leading to a malicious transaction that drained Bybit’s wallet. The report clarified that no security flaws were found in Safe’s smart contracts or frontend. However, CZ raised several unresolved questions regarding the incident.
In the latest update on the Bybit hack, blockchain intelligence firm Arkham revealed that wallets linked to the Lazarus Group have transferred over $240 million in ETH through THORChain, with the funds primarily converted into native BTC.
Also Read: Cobo Launches Safe{Wallet} Co-Signing Service For Crypto Transactions