Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange that lost $1.5 billion in digital assets in a February 2025 hack, has won court approval for an expedited discovery request in the United States.
According to court records on Aug. 10, U.S. District Judge John Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved Bybit’s request for expedited discovery. The ruling allows the exchange to obtain information needed to trace the stolen assets at an early stage of the litigation.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation previously identified North Korea’s Lazarus Group as being behind the hack. The FBI said the hackers converted some of the stolen assets into other cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, and distributed them across thousands of wallet addresses. Investigators said the funds were subsequently moved through money laundering channels in an attempt to convert them into fiat currency.
Bybit filed a confidential lawsuit in June against North Korea, the country’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, the Lazarus Group and 20 unidentified individuals.
In its complaint, Bybit alleged that “some traceable assets flowed into exchanges operating in the United States” and asked the exchanges to provide information including the identities of account holders and transaction records.
The approval of expedited discovery will allow Bybit to obtain such information. Some exchanges are reportedly already willing to cooperate with the requests for information.