TL;DR:
- Bybit intercepted and recovered $300 million from scams and fraudulent withdrawals during Q4 2025, protecting more than 4,000 users.
- The exchange deployed a three-tier AI-powered defense system that blocked over 3 million credential theft attempts throughout 2025.
- Chainalysis estimates that $17 billion in cryptocurrencies were lost globally to fraud and scams over the course of 2025.
Bybit intercepted and recovered $300 million in fraudulent withdrawals and scam attempts during Q4 2025, according to what the exchange announced. This is a direct result of its 2025 Security Initiative, a program structured around a multilayer defense architecture designed to intervene before funds are transferred irreversibly.
Bybit Deploys a Three-Tier Framework Against Fraud
At the core of the defense strategy is a risk-based dynamic protection system that classifies fraud scenarios into three categories. At the low level, mass data analysis algorithms detect unusual patterns—such as large withdrawals to newly created addresses—and the risk operations team can proactively blacklist those destinations.
At the medium level, accounts flagged by leaked credential databases or suspicious addresses receive real-time alerts during the withdrawal process, aimed at halting social engineering tactics that exploit emotional urgency. At the high level, the system executes an immediate withdrawal block and a mandatory one-hour cooling period for addresses linked to confirmed scams, including “pig butchering” schemes.
Q4 results demonstrate the success and reach of Bybit’s defense system. Out of $500 million in withdrawals flagged as suspicious, the exchange intercepted $300 million and protected more than 4,000 users. Its artificial intelligence algorithms identified 350 high-risk addresses through on-chain monitoring, which allowed it to safeguard an additional 8,000 users.
The system automatically labeled 350 addresses and manually flagged another 600, preventing the imminent loss of approximately $1 million in funds. Through cross-chain tracing and investigations into bridges and mixers, Bybit helped freeze $4.32 million in assets for the benefit of 335 victims.
Security as a Collective Responsibility
Throughout 2025, Bybit blocked more than 3 million credential theft attempts. The exchange integrated external monitoring capabilities from TRM, Elliptic, and Chainalysis into its risk systems. According to the latter firm, $17 billion in cryptocurrencies were lost worldwide to fraud during the year.
“Our mission in 2025 was to transform risk control from a ‘silent shield’ into an active, intelligent guardian,” said David Zong, Bybit’s Group Risk Control Director. The executive emphasized that standardized monitoring indicators are shared across the entire crypto ecosystem, under the premise that a safer industry for one is safer for all.
