- Blockchain investigator ZachXBT discovered seven wallet addresses on May 21 that contained 891.13 Bitcoin, or over $61 million, and were connected to the notorious North Korean hacking outfit Lazarus. This discovery was a significant advance in the cryptocurrency field.
- ZachXBT highlighted the continuous threat faced by the state-backed hacker group by sharing these findings on X, the former Twitter platform. The information was made public after the investigator’s earlier investigation, which resulted in the authorities freezing $3.8 million worth of digital assets.
ZachXBT Discovers Seven Additional Addresses Associated with Lazarus
The funds ZachXBT discovered are still present in the highlighted wallets as per the most recent updates. It was also noticed that the usernames “EasyGoatfish351” and “FairJunco470” had deposits and trade volumes that corresponded with the cash that had been stolen.
Before being transformed into fiat and taken out, the pilfered assets were frequently exchanged for Tether (USDT).
The notorious cyberthief group Lazarus Group reappeared early this year following a hiatus. On January 8, they made two payments totaling 27.37 Bitcoin to transfer $1.2 million in stolen digital assets from a mixer to an inactive wallet. Then, 3.343 BTC, valued at $150,582, was transferred to an address that had already been used.
The Lazarus hacking group from North Korea laundered almost $200 million
Following an extensive investigation released by ZachXBT on April 29, which showed how Lazarus laundered $200 million from over 25 attacks since 2020, seven more addresses have been found.
According to the investigation, the group used peer-to-peer marketplaces and crypto-mixing services to coordinate over 25 attacks across many blockchains in order to hide the source of the stolen money.
Over the six years preceding up to 2023, the Lazarus Group—notoriety for its cyber activities since 2009—is said to have stolen over $3 billion in cryptocurrency holdings, affecting thousands of people both directly and indirectly.
Before being swapped for fiat currencies, the laundered monies were mainly turned into USDT stablecoin, frequently via over-the-counter traders in China.
Notably, using particular usernames, $44 million of the stolen money was laundered through the P2P marketplaces Noones and Paxful. In retaliation, Tether blocked access to roughly $374,000 in pilfered money associated with the organization, while other stablecoin providers blocked an extra $3.4 million.
North Korea has been implicated in cryptocurrency heists totaling $2.4 billion since 2020, according to UNSC and DeFiLlama data, with a large amount of these heists being linked to hacked private keys.
North Korean hacking outfits stole $700 million less in 2023 than in 2022, despite a rise in their operations.
The lower losses could be an indication of better market circumstances and project security. However, experts caution that given favorable market conditions and the ongoing growth of the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, hacker activity could spike once more.
Disclaimer : This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.
