According to CoinMeta, on August 7, 2026, Bybit announced that it had filed a civil lawsuit in the District Court of Columbia, USA, against North Korea, its intelligence agencies, and the Lazarus Group regarding a hacking incident that occurred on February 21, 2025. This incident resulted in the theft of over 400,000 Ether, worth approximately $1.5 billion. The judge has frozen the stolen assets. This case tests whether civil law can achieve what criminal law has not been able to. What is unique about this lawsuit is that a private company is suing a sovereign state in a U.S. court. Zhou Benhui, the CEO of Bybit, stated that the company's focus has always been on protecting users, recovering the stolen funds, and ensuring that the attackers are held accountable.