The FBI referred to the attack as “TraderTraitor,” a malicious campaign linked to North Korean state-sponsored hackers the Lazarus Group.

Losses to crypto scams, exploits and hacks totaled nearly $1.53 billion in February, with the $1.4 billion Bybit hack accounting for the lion’s share of losses, said blockchain security firm CertiK. The Feb.

As news started spreading about a massive hack on crypto exchange Bybit last Friday, cybersecurity researchers quickly concluded that the era of giant digital-asset heists had entered a new and potentially ruinous phase.

North Korean hackers took just two minutes to make off with $1.5bn (£1.2bn) in cryptocurrency, cyber security researchers believe, in the single biggest heist in history.

Bybit clients withdrew almost $4 billion within two days of the attack; the company recovered just 3% of the total of the stolen crypto assets