Investigator ZachXBT has uncovered North Korea’s Lazarus Group laundering $200 million in stolen cryptocurrency through coin mixers and peer-to-peer exchanges.
The investigation spans from August 2020 to October 2023, revealing sophisticated methods employed by the hacker collective.
ZachXBT meticulously traced the movement of illicit funds through various blockchains, identifying favored tools like Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash and Bitcoin-based ChipMixer.
The group’s activities, including high-profile exploits like the Harmony bridge hack, amount to over $3 billion in thefts, allegedly funding North Korea’s weapons program.
Tornado Cash faces US scrutiny, with developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev facing charges. Despite regulatory efforts, money laundering activities only saw a 29% decline in 2023, highlighting the ongoing challenge in combating cybercrime.
With support from industry giants like Binance and leading Ethereum wallet MetaMask, ZachXBT has pinpointed several accounts suspected to be associated with the Lazarus Group. These accounts are believed to have received $44 million from Lazarus hacks and effectively laundered the stolen funds into fiat currency.
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