The operator of the OKX cryptocurrency exchange pleaded guilty on Monday to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and will pay nearly $505 million in fines and forfeited fees, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Federal prosecutors said OKX, based in Seychelles, violated anti-money laundering laws for years. The company agreed to pay more than $500 million in fines and penalties.

The OKX cryptocurrency exchange, one of the world’s largest, pleaded guilty on Monday to processing more than $1 trillion in transactions by US customers without a license and will pay more than $504 million in penalties.

According to Bybit's holdings, that amounts to $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency that was stolen from Bybit and its customers, making this the largest ever cryptocurrency theft. However, as Molly White of Web3IsGoingGreat points out, the hacker can't exactly cash out $1.5 billion in Ethereum, because an amount that high would crash the value of ETH.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit said last week hackers had stolen digital tokens worth around $1.5 billion, in what researchers called the biggest crypto heist of all time.

Following the revelation Friday from cryptocurrency exchange firm Bybit that hackers stole digital tokens worth about $1.5 billion – in what may be the biggest crypto heist of all time – CEO Ben Zhou wrote on X Sunday that it has replenished its reserves. Bybit was able to do this through a mix of emergency loans and large deposits.