tl;dr
North Korean hackers are laundering stolen Bybit funds, with over $140 million in transactions tracked by blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic. The stolen funds are being moved through anonymous exchanges and converted to Bitcoin to obscure the money trail. The $1.46 billion social engineering atta...
North Korean hackers are laundering over $140 million in stolen Bybit funds through anonymous exchanges and Bitcoin conversion, making it difficult to trace the funds. The $1.46 billion social engineering attack, attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, is the most significant theft in crypto history, involving the systematic movement and conversion of stolen assets. Bybit is experiencing pressure from users' withdrawals, with approximately 23,000 BTC pulled from its hot wallet, resulting in outflows totaling $6 billion across various cryptocurrencies. Anonymous crypto exchange eXch is accused of processing "tens of millions of dollars" in stolen assets despite Bybit's requests to block the activity, prompting allegations and a denial of involvement in money laundering.
Blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic has tracked over $140 million in initial transactions related to the laundering of stolen Bybit funds by North Korean hackers. The stolen funds are being moved through anonymous exchanges and converted to Bitcoin to obscure the money trail, complicating the tracing process, and buying valuable time for the launderers to cash out the assets. The $1.46 billion social engineering attack, primarily in Ethereum, is the largest theft in crypto history, surpassing the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021. The attack has been linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, which is known for laundering stolen tokens. Bybit has faced significant pressure from users' withdrawals, with roughly 23,000 BTC pulled from its hot wallet. Anonymous crypto exchange eXch is accused of processing "tens of millions of dollars" in stolen assets, despite requests from Bybit to block the activity. eXch denies allegations of money laundering and claims that the funds processed from the hack will be donated to privacy and security initiatives.
Blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic has reported that North Korean hackers have begun laundering stolen Bybit funds, with over $140 million in initial transactions tracked. The stolen funds are being systematically moved through anonymous exchanges and then converted to Bitcoin, complicating the tracing process and making it harder to recover the assets. The $1.46 billion social engineering attack, primarily in Ethereum, is the most significant theft in crypto history, surpassing the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021. Elliptic and Arkham Intelligence have linked the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, using decentralized exchanges and other services to obfuscate the transaction trail. The stolen assets were distributed across 50 different wallets shortly after the theft occurred, with each wallet holding approximately 10,000 ETH. The funds are now being systematically emptied and converted to Bitcoin. Elliptic noted that the Lazarus Group typically follows a playbook of converting stolen tokens to "native" blockchain assets before further obfuscation. The group has reportedly stolen over $3 billion in crypto assets since 2017, with suspicions of funding North Korea's ballistic missile program.
As a result of the theft, Bybit is facing significant pressure from users' withdrawals, with approximately 23,000 BTC pulled from its hot wallet. The exchange has seen outflows totaling $6 billion across various cryptocurrencies. Additionally, anonymous crypto exchange eXch has been accused of processing "tens of millions of dollars" in stolen assets despite requests from Bybit to block the activity. eXch denies allegations of money laundering and states that the processed funds from the hack will be donated to privacy and security initiatives.