ZachXBT has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to add more crypto wallets tied to North Korea’s Lazarus group. The recent addition takes the total number of wallets to 32 and laundered funds to $204M.
ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, has identified seven wallet addresses that are linked to the notorious North Korean hacking group, Lazarus. These wallets collectively hold 891.13 BTC.
Also Read: Anonymous Crypto Influencer Exposes Notorious Lazarus Group in Detailed Report
In a recent investigation conducted by crypto sleuth ZachXBT, it was discovered that the Lazarus Group from North Korea managed to convert approximately $200M worth of cryptocurrency into fiat currency from August 2020 to October 2023.
ZachXBT Ties Lazarus Group to $200M Money Laundering
ZachXBT meticulously examined over 25 hacks that occurred on different blockchains, carefully tracking the movement of funds through coin mixers and exchanges from August 2020 to October 2023. According to the report, the Lazarus Group used several coin mixers to launder $200M. These mixers concealed the source and destination of transactions by combining them with other tokens, transactions, and addresses.
1/ How Lazarus Group laundered $200M from 25+ crypto hacks to fiat from 2020 – 2023https://t.co/s8zNFwlamb
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 29, 2024
The hackers used the Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash and the Bitcoin-based ChipMixer in their operations. Furthermore, tokens were moved across various blockchains to make it more difficult to trace the funds. The group also engaged peer-to-peer (P2P) exchanges such as Noones and Paxful, facilitating direct asset exchanges with individuals.
7 Additional Wallet Addresses Now Hold $61.8M
On May 21, ZachXBT shared 7 additional wallet addresses on X linked to Lazarus Group, holding $61.8M. This follows his previous exposé on the group which resulted in the authorities freezing $3.8M worth of digital assets.
A few weeks ago I published research on 25 Lazarus Group hacks which resulted in $3.8M frozen.
I am sharing 7 additional wallet addresses which currently hold $61.8M (891 BTC) tied to these hacks.
bc1qw88pehjuejym9jyfgn6vn4aaw7q232hlyzzn6f… https://t.co/k6gSrhdkEb pic.twitter.com/bg3EkMaumn
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) May 20, 2024
The Lazarus Group reemerged earlier this year following a period of inactivity. On January 8th, the hackers successfully transferred $1.2M in stolen digital assets from a mixer and redirected a portion of the funds to an inactive wallet.
As of now, the crypto wallets identified by ZachXBT continues to hold the reported amounts.
Lazarus Group Steals Billions From The Crypto Community
In recent years, the Lazarus Group has been identified as the perpetrator behind several high-profile cryptocurrency hacks. The FBI linked the group to the $41 million attack on Stake.com, a gaming firm, as well as the $622M exploit of the Ronin bridge.
ZachXBT, with the help of industry key players like Binance and top Ethereum wallet, MetaMask, has exposed several accounts that are suspected to be connected to the Lazarus Group.
These accounts reportedly received $44M from Lazarus’ hacks and managed to convert the stolen funds into fiat currency.
Also Read: How Lazarus Group Is Using LinkedIn to Steal Crypto
The Lazarus Group remains a highly infamous criminal organization in the crypto space. Over the course of six years, the group managed to acquire a staggering sum of over $3B in digital assets.
In 2022 alone, the group stole $1.7B, an amount that exceeds North Korea’s total annual income from exports by nearly ten times.
Cryptopolitan Reporting by Florence Muchai
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