USA Declares War on North Korean Hacking Group! Millions of Dollars of Cryptocurrency Are Being Seized! Here are the Details

The U.S. government is seeking to seize approximately $2.67 million in cryptocurrency linked to two major attacks by North Korean cybercriminals, according to recent filings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

US Moves to Seize $2.7 Million in Crypto Linked to North Korean Lazarus Group Hacks

These cases reveal how North Korea’s Lazarus Group laundered funds from high-profile attacks on crypto platforms through blockchain mixers and shed light on the group’s sophisticated money laundering tactics.

The seizures relate to two hacks: a $28 million breach of crypto options exchange Deribit in November 2022 and a $41 million theft from online crypto casino Stake.com in September 2023. Law enforcement tracked the stolen assets through blockchain mixing services designed to disguise the origin of cryptocurrency transactions.

Tracking Stolen Funds: Deribit’ten Tornado Cash’e

In a seizure filing, the US government details how Lazarus hackers laundered $1.7 million in Tether (USDT) through Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer at the center of a major money laundering case.

The funds came from the group’s $28 million hack of Deribit; where hackers gained access to the platform’s hot wallet servers, converted assets into Ethereum and transferred them via Tornado Cash.

Law enforcement tracked these movements by identifying patterns in wallet activity, such as similar-time transactions and the use of cross-chain bridges.

Lazarus Group made three attempts to convert stolen assets into USDT. While law enforcement managed to freeze the funds in the first two attempts, hackers successfully laundered the remainder during the third wave, leading to the freezing of approximately 1.7 million USDT from the five wallets involved.

*This is not investment advice.