Bybit says first-half 2026 security report blocked more than $700 million in potential losses

By Atlas Watchline Staff · Corporate · August 19, 2026

Bybit said its first-half 2026 security report shows AI-assisted monitoring and faster response times helped block more than $700 million in possible user losses.

Bybit said its H1 2026 Risk & Security Report shows the exchange intercepted more than 30,000 suspicious withdrawal requests and protected nearly 20,000 users from more than $700 million in potential losses.

The report, published Aug. 18 and covering Jan. 1 through June 15, 2026, says the company expanded its security systems after the February 2025 theft of about $1.46 billion in digital assets.

Bybit said its current security model has three layers: user and account security, real-time on-chain monitoring, and AI-assisted security operations. The company said the average initial review of suspicious withdrawal requests took 4.7 minutes, and 95% were completed within 10 minutes.

Bybit also said it identified about $212 million in potential fraud-linked onchain funds and blacklisted more than 10,000 malicious addresses. It said it expanded monitoring to 100% of business-relevant on-chain activity, including listed token contracts, ecosystem contracts, and cold, warm and hot wallets.

The exchange said it handled 10 security incidents involving listed token projects during the first half of 2026, with zero losses to the platform. In eight of those incidents, Bybit said it completed emergency responses before other major exchanges. In two, it said it detected attacks before the affected projects did.

Bybit said more than 100,000 security alerts were processed with AI-assisted analysis during the period. The company said AI-assisted security auditing found high-severity vulnerabilities at three to five times the rate of manual review, and automation cut the time from security assessment to testing from about two weeks to two hours.

The report also said Bybit’s automated red-team platform assessed 1,489 public-facing assets and found more than 100 high-severity vulnerabilities. Bybit said that reduced the average time from asset discovery to initial penetration testing to under 24 hours.

David Zong, head of group risk control and security at Bybit, said in the release that the cybersecurity arms race has entered “an era of minutes.” He said using AI to strengthen security and risk-control capabilities is a top priority, while human judgment remains central to critical security decisions.

Bybit said it worked with law enforcement, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace and recover stolen assets after the 2025 theft. It also said it pursued legal action against North Korea and the Lazarus Group in connection with the attack.

The company said the figures are self-reported and based on internal security, risk and engineering systems, and it warned they are not a guarantee of future security performance or a comparative ranking of exchanges.

Sources

• PR Newswire release: Bybit strengthens security defences against evolving crypto threats, intercepting $700 million in potential user losses

Editorial note: This article was prepared with AI assistance and includes source attribution for reader review.

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