Comment
Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
A blockchain security firm revealed that stolen funds from crypto exchange Bybit are being moved by hackers to crypto mixers to convert the bagged funds into Bitcoin in an attempt to obfuscate the transaction trail.Elliptic believes that the hackers known as the Lazarus Group, which is based in North Korea, could be trying to launder the stolen funds using crypto mixers to make it harder to trace the transactions.Elliptic reported that $1.4 billion of stolen digital assets from the hacking incident at the Bybit crypto exchange is believed to be on the move to crypto mixers so the hackers can launder the funds without being traced by authorities.“If previous laundering patterns are followed, we might expect to see the use of mixers next,” Elliptic said.The blockchain security firm attributed the multi-billion-dollar crypto heist to North Korean hackers known only as the Lazarus Group.However, Elliptic noted that laundering the heist crypto funds may prove to be too challenging to the hacker’s group because of the sheer volume of stolen assets that they need to move without any trail.“North Korea’s Lazarus Group is the most sophisticated and well-resourced launderer of crypto assets in existence, continually adapting its techniques to evade identification and seizure of stolen assets,” Elliptic noted in its website.The Laundering ProcessElliptic explained that North Korea’s Lazarus Group has a laundering process that normally follows a characteristic pattern. “The first step is to exchange any stolen tokens for a “native” blockchain asset such as Ether.This is because tokens have issuers who in some cases can “freeze” wallets containing stolen assets, whereas there is no central party who can freeze Ether or Bitcoin,” the blockchain security firm said.ETHUSD trading at $2.49 on the daily chart: TradingView.comIn the case of the Bybit theft, this first stage happened within minutes after the heist. Elliptic
Add Comment