Lazarus caught laundering millions from DMM bitcoin hack, some funds frozen

One of the most prolific and damaging hacking teams in the crypto world, the North Korean Lazarus Group, is suspected to be behind the DMM Bitcoin exchange hack. The hack resulted in the theft of more than $300 million, of which $35 million was reportedly laundered in July.

According to ZachXBT, an independent and reputable crypto asset market sleuth, the hackers of the Japanese exchange sent the proceeds to the Huione Guarantee platform. As reported by Cybernews.com, this platform is a three-year-old Chinese-language ecosystem and marketplace suspected of facilitating transactions worth at least $11 billion, aiding crypto scammers.

Meanwhile, Tether company, the issuer of the most popular stablecoin tether (USDT), is said to have blacklisted a wallet with almost USDT 30 million that is allegedly connected to Huione.

Per ZachXBT, the North Koreans are suspected of being behind the DMM hack in May this year due to similarities in laundering techniques and off-chain indicators.

According to the sleuth, the transfer from DMM to Huione potentially unfolded as follows: stolen BTC was first transferred to a so-called mixer. This service helps hide the transaction history of BTC and other crypto assets. Then, the mixed funds were sent to another blockchain, where they were swapped for USDT. After another change of blockchain, the USDT was finally sent to Huione.

Separately, Reuters reported that Lazarus allegedly sent $150,000 worth of crypto assets to a major Cambodian payments firm, Huione Pay, related to Huione Guarantee.

According to the report, Huione Pay claims that it didn’t know it "received funds indirectly" from the hacks and that the wallet that sent the funds was not under its management.

Another report by DLNews, citing security experts and a UN report, claims that North Korean hackers are trying to get jobs at crypto projects to gather sensitive data and steal assets.