Chainalysis Collaborated With LE and Crypto Firms to Seize $30M Stolen By North Korean Hackers
- Considering the price changes, Chainalysis has said the seized assets represent 10 percent of the Ronin Bridge stolen funds.
- North Korea hacking groups including Lazarus have attracted the attention of the United States among other countries.
- The North Korean government has sponsored elite hacking groups in a bid to fund its nuclear programs.
Blockchain analytic firm, Chainalysis, has announced that it worked closely with law enforcement and leading crypto organizations to seize more than $30 million stolen by North Korean hackers. The sting operation focused on the March 2022 theft of more than $600 million from Ronin Network, an Axie Infinity sidechain.
“This marks the first time that cryptocurrency stolen by a North Korean hacking group has been seized, and we’re confident it won’t be the last,” Chainalysis noted.
Considering the price changes, the on-chain analytic firm has said the seized assets represent 10 percent of the Ronin Bridge stolen funds.
North Korea hacking groups including Lazarus have attracted the attention of the United States among other countries. Reportedly, the North Korean government has sponsored elite hacking groups in a bid to fund its nuclear programs.
Chainalysis Saves the Day for Ronin Bridge
Reportedly, the Lazarus Group gained access to five of the nine private keys held by transaction validators for Ronin Network’s cross-chain bridge. Having gained the majority control of the network, the hackers withdrew 173,600 Ethers (ETH) and $25.5 million in USDC.
According to the report by Chainalysis, the hackers have leveraged over 12,000 different crypto addresses to date, in a bid to mask their transactions. Remember, most off-ramp cryptocurrency exchanges require customers’ details to verify KYC features.
In a bid to securely liquidate the stolen funds, North Korean hackers used Tornado Cash to launder over $455 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen from Axie Infinity. Consequently, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the entire Tornado Cash technology.
The move by the U.S to sanction Tornado Cash has, however, been met with opposition including a recent lawsuit sponsored by Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN).
While cryptocurrency mixer is proving challenging to use by Ronin attackers, Chainalysis has noted that the funds are being moved between different chains.
The Ronin Bridge hackers have been hopping from Ethereum to the Binance chain and Bitcoin network. As a result, they are easily able to obscure transactions and later liquidate the stolen funds.
Forward, Chainalysis is calling on all blockchain firms to collaborate and bring down illicit activities orchestrated by North Korean hacking groups.
Side Notes
From the beginning, Satoshi Nakamoto predicted that a little scam should be deemed unavoidable in the whitepaper. True to the forecast, security-oriented chains and coins including Monero have emerged and enabled billions of scams globally.
Nevertheless, no one wants to be monitored through their online activities irrespective of the underlying issues. Consequently, blockchains are moving toward further securing customers’ information despite the increased KYC.
For instance, the Bitcoin network recently upgraded its security system through the Taproot update.
Meanwhile, cross-bridge systems have been a soft hacking spot due to their weak security design. Thereby throttling the DeFi growth prospects.
Rebecca is a Senior Staff Writer at BitcoinWisdom, working hard to bring you the latest breaking news in the cryptocurrency market. In the words of Elon Musk “Buy stock in several companies that make products & services that *you* believe in. Only sell if you think their products & services are trending worse. Don’t panic when the market does. This will serve you well in the long-term.”
