Bybit’s remarkable recovery after massive security breach
Bybit managed to secure the second-highest trading volume among cryptocurrency exchanges last year, which is quite surprising when you consider what happened. The exchange suffered what’s being called the largest crypto hack ever back in February 2025 – North Korean attackers exploited a vulnerability in their cold wallet infrastructure and made off with $1.5 billion worth of Ether.
I think most people would have written them off after something like that. According to CoinGecko research analyst Shaun Paul Lee, Bybit’s trading volume actually reached $1.5 trillion in total during 2025, capturing 8.1% of the market. That’s not bad at all for a company that went through such a devastating security incident.
How they managed the crisis
What’s interesting is how Bybit handled the situation. They kept withdrawals open throughout the crisis, which seems counterintuitive but perhaps helped maintain some trust. Their CEO, Ben Zhou, appeared on camera to address concerns directly, assuring users the exchange had sufficient funds to cover everything and planned to secure immediate liquidity through external support.
This approach appears to have worked, though I’m not entirely sure why. Mitchell Amador, CEO of Immunefi, told Cointelegraph earlier this month that nearly 80% of projects that suffer from a hack never fully recover because of operational breakdowns and loss of trust during the response. Bybit seems to be in that lucky 20%.
Market trends in 2025
The broader market context probably helped too. CoinGecko’s report shows six out of the top ten exchanges by market share saw their trading volumes climb in 2025. Trading volumes increased by 7.6% on average, adding about $1.3 trillion in extra trades across the board.
Four exchanges actually saw double-digit percentage increases. MEXC led as the fastest-growing exchange for the year, with trading volumes jumping 91% to $1.5 trillion. They maintained an aggressive zero-fee policy across all spot trading pairs, which apparently attracted both high-frequency traders and retail users.
Binance maintains leadership position
Binance still holds the top spot among crypto exchanges, with CoinGecko estimating they saw $7.3 trillion in trading volume. But here’s something curious – their volume actually fell by 0.5% year-on-year. That’s not a huge drop, but it’s interesting given the overall market growth.
Lee suggested the slump in Binance’s trading volume might be attributed to general bearish sentiment in the crypto market after what he called “the historical liquidation event on Oct. 10.” Meanwhile, Binance’s co-CEOs announced in December that their user base had climbed to over 300 million, with total trading volumes across all products reaching $34 trillion for the year.
It’s worth noting that 2025 was generally a good year for crypto prices, with Bitcoin and other coins recording multiple all-time highs despite what Lee described as a slow end to the year. The market seems to have absorbed Bybit’s massive hack better than many expected, though I wonder how much of that recovery was due to their specific response versus just riding a broader market wave.
Perhaps the lesson here is that transparency and keeping operations running during a crisis matters more than we think. Or maybe Bybit just got lucky with timing. Either way, their comeback story is one of the more surprising developments in what was already an eventful year for crypto exchanges.
