A self-described crypto-researcher going by the name ZachXBT on social media claims that DPRK-allied actors laundered another tranche of funds stolen last year from the Harmony Horizon Bridge.
Funds Allegedly Received by Six Crypto Exchanges
ZachXBT tweeted that DPRK-linked hackers moved 11,304 ethereum (ETH) over the weekend, valued at approximately $17.7 million.
According to the cryptanalyst, the rogue state, or individuals acting on its behalf, consolidated the stolen funds at two main addresses before disbursing them to six different crypto exchanges.
He later added that he had discovered another address with 5,974 ETH worth $9.4 million, bringing the total laundered over the weekend to 17,278 ETH with a market value of $27.1 million.
At the time of writing, ZachXBT had planned 895 bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals for 14 directions of the exchanges. At current rates, the BTC withdrawn by the hackers is worth approximately $20.6 million.
Lazarus Group previously laundered $63.5 million in ETH
On Jan. 15, the same crypto researcher claimed that North Korea’s Lazarus Group, the team allegedly behind the $100 million Harmony Bridge hack, had moved 41,000 ETH worth $63.5 million.
The hackers reportedly laundered the money through Railgun, a privacy and anonymity platform built on top of Ethereum that uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to obfuscate cryptographic transactions.
The group deposited the money at three main addresses before being disbursed to more than 350 other partner wallets.
Binance and Huobi freeze a portion of the laundered funds
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao indicated that his exchange and Huobi had discovered the hacker activity on January 15 and froze 124 BTC worth $2.8 million at current prices.
ZachXBT mentioned that several exchanges had also been vigilant enough to capture and freeze some of the funds that were laundered in the latest incident. He, however, did not mention the names of the exchanges.
The news of the DPRK’s money laundering activity follows White House reports that the country spent more than $1 billion stolen from the crypto industry in the past two years to finance its controversial missile program.
The US government has since reportedly decided to step up its crypto regulatory efforts and increase law enforcement resources to help combat illicit crypto asset activities.
