A prominent cryptocurrency exchange has reported being targeted in a high-level hack that resulted in the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in digital assets, marking it as one of the largest online heists in history.

On Friday, Bybit disclosed that a standard transfer of Ethereum, a widely used cryptocurrency, was “manipulated” by an attacker, who managed to redirect the funds to an unspecified wallet. The exchange has emphasized that the safety of customer funds stored on their platform remains intact.

The incident has triggered a noticeable increase in withdrawal requests from customers, which the company indicated may lead to processing delays. Bybit’s CEO, Ben Zhou, took to social media to assure users that the exchange would continue to operate normally, even if the stolen funds were not retrieved.

“We can cover the loss,” Zhou reassured the community, aiming to alleviate concerns surrounding the hack. Stealing cryptocurrencies has become a favored strategy for cybercriminals, and there is a notable connection between certain high-profile thefts and state-sponsored hackers from North Korea. In a recent example from December, U.S. authorities and Japan’s National Police released a collaborative statement attributing a theft of $308 million from a Japanese cryptocurrency firm to North Korean hackers.