North Korean hackers to cash out $40 million in stolen crypto: FBI
Christopher Hutton
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North Korean hackers may attempt to cash out more than $40 million worth of bitcoin, the latest crypto-related crime effort connected to the country.
The North Korea-affiliated Lazarus Group and APT38 are believed to be behind a series of cryptocurrency hacks earlier this year. This includes a $60 million theft from the payment processor Alphapo and the theft of $100 million in assets from the crypto company Atomic Wallet. The FBI identified six crypto wallets that hold a total of $41 million in crypto assets and encouraged crypto companies not to interact with the wallets due to their belief that the groups will attempt to cash out the stolen assets there.
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“The FBI will continue to expose and combat the DPRK’s use of illicit activities — including cybercrime and virtual currency theft — to generate revenue for the regime,” the bureau said in a statement.
Lazarus and APT38 were behind a number of cryptocurrency hacks over the last few years. The bureau confirmed in January that Lazarus was behind the theft of $100 million of ethereum from the crypto bridge Harmony. Crypto bridges are used to transfer cryptocurrencies from one network to the other.
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At least one crypto protocol, or software used to anonymize crypto transactions, was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for assisting Lazarus.
North Korean hackers have stolen more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency since 2018, according to the blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs.