As a seasoned crypto investor with over a decade of experience in the digital currency market, I have witnessed firsthand the evolution of cryptocurrencies and their associated risks. The recent move by Tether and Circle to blacklist the addresses linked to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group is a significant step towards curbing illicit activities within the crypto ecosystem.
Tether and Circle have blocked certain digital wallets linked to the cybercriminal organization known as the Lazarus Group. This information was shared by investigator ZachXBT during a report detailing the amount of funds recovered from these hackers in the ongoing investigation. The Lazarus Group, infamous for its cryptocurrency heists, is suspected of being behind the recent attack on the Indodax digital exchange.
Stablecoin Issuers Tether And Circle Blacklist Lazarus Group Addresses
In a recent post, ZachXBT disclosed that four companies issuing stablecoins – Tether, Circle, Paxos, and Techteryx – have blocked two digital wallets associated with North Korean hackers. The wallets (0x36f…22A70 and 0x12E…44DB6) currently hold approximately $4.96 million in the USDT, USDC, BUSD, and TUSD types of stablecoins.
The detective working on the blockchain uncovered that certain trading platforms have temporarily withheld approximately $1.65 million from the hackers’ accounts during their probe. Furthermore, he mentioned that a sum of $6.98 million was frozen from wallets associated with the same group.
It’s now typical for cybercriminals involved in cryptocurrency theft to use stablecoins as a method to clean their illicit gains. As ZachXBT uncovered, the North Korean hacker collective is known to have laundered approximately $200 million from crypto hacks, funneling this money into dollar-backed coins, from 2020 up until 2023.
This disclosure comes after Tether’s recent collaboration with Tron and TRM Labs to establish the T3 Financial Crime Unit, which primarily focuses on combating illegal activities associated with USDT. The company behind USDT stated that the T3 unit has already immobilized more than $12 million worth of USDT connected to scams and frauds.
Hackers Suspected For The Indodax Exploit
It’s believed that the Lazarus Group may have orchestrated the cyber attack on an Indonesian cryptocurrency exchange, leading to the theft of more than $20 million. Cybersecurity expert Yosi Hammer from Cymmetria noted that the method used in this hack seems to mirror that of a North Korean hacker collective.
On September 11, a security breach took place, leading Indodax to temporarily halt its operations while they assessed the impact of the intrusion. After about three days of thorough examination, Indodax declared that users could resume transactions on their platform. Furthermore, the exchange mentioned that it would gradually reinstate deposit, withdrawal, and staking functions for cryptocurrencies to maintain a seamless system operation.
WazirX Hacker Still Holds $83 Million Worth Of Ethereum
According to SpotOnChain’s analysis, the individual responsible for the WazirX hack is currently in possession of approximately $83 million worth of Ethereum (ETH), which represents around 55% of the total funds stolen in the incident. The platform stated that this hacker recently moved 20,000 ETH ($46.97 million) to Tornado Cash within the last seven days, increasing the total amount laundered to approximately 27,600 ETH ($65.5 million).
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2024-09-14 15:48